Lead and Follow
by lilbabybao
Summary: Let me share with you a tale of two kindred spirits finding their way to each other. Modern day setting and the Naruto characters as adults.
1. Chapter 1

**Lead and Follow**

**A Sasuhina Fanfiction**

**Chapter 1**

"Did you just lick my window?" asked the young gentleman with an inquisitive look and mischievous smile on his face dressed in a pastry chef uniform jacket with many bobby pins holding back his bangs in a row.

She froze from his sudden question and her eyes widened from the realization that she was caught in the act that was socially unacceptable to the norm. She took one quick glance at him and was about to run away from the embarrassing moment when he grabbed her arm and said smiling, "Wanna try something different?"

Half wanting to run away, the other half dying of curiosity followed the man who then ushers her through the front door of the recently opened café and pâtissier shop down the street from her home. The shop had that interesting mom and pop store front kind of appeal to it with shrubbery topiary potted plants and metal outdoor dining sets with fashionable umbrellas. The decorations inside were homey to draw attention to the beautifully carved wooden furniture that were antique inspired but ornate and rich in design.

Shelves could be seen filled with old books lined both floors surrounding the room of the dinning area and trailed to the upper floor loft. A wooden spiral staircase could be seen in the back corner which looked inviting at the moment due to the spectral rays of light cascading inward from the display window which were then reflected by the unique crystal curtain beading caused the spectrum and dispersion of colors on the wooden helix steps. It gave the illusion that you could walk toward the stairs and be sucked into another dimension from all that glitter.

She was beside herself and tickled pink from the discovery of such a place. Her eyes sparkled and twinkled from delight like a child entering the largest candy slash toy store for the very first time. Her eyes wished they could take in all the beauty the small café had to offer. She ran toward the books and traced her fingers over the old cloth binded books and unique printed and painted fonts that lined the shelves. She inhaled the scent of mold, papyrus, new paint stain and wood.

Some books were the classics that she loved and cherished. She recognized some authors and saw some that were unfamiliar and foreign. It was a worthy collection for any book collector or befitting for a grand library. She then ran her hands over the crown molding of the shelves and saw that they too were intricate and detailed in design. The love put forth in the craftsmanship to showcase these books showed and so did the love for these books.

"You, come here," directed the bobby pinned hair man from earlier who was now waving at her to come behind the desk slash barista bar and cash register. She blushed thinking that she had forgotten all about him. She walks toward his direction and he opens one side of the metal swinging kitchen doors with two circular windows and shows her the inside.

Inside the bakery area or kitchen place was a metal island table, displaying many varieties of cakes each on a different china plate design. They were the same cakes from the window display earlier where she salivated, cleaned the glass with her own alcohol wipes, and then with her exhaled condensation on the small section of the window, wiped it down with a piece of kleenex. At the moment, she only thought about giving in to her appetite and that was all to that strange act.

From the different dishes, she picks out a small plain plate that had a slice from the cake in the display window. It was a white fluffy cream over two white rounded cake sheets and sprinkled with cinnamon powder and drizzled with a touch of fruit sauce. He gave her a fork and she instantly without shame took a bite from the cake.

She closed her eyes as if she was in ecstasy and smiled in a way as if a yoga instructor had found his ultimate nirvana. She continued eating until it was halfway gone. She ate the piece of cake forgetting that the baker was still there and he had this curious look on his face when she did notice him which she assumed could only be pondering what her critique of the cake was.

She looked at him and said, "The whipping is light and sweet and the cake was plain and moist but the cinnamon and the tart sauce was just the right amount to balance the exquisite texture of all four. They all blended well and offered a unique taste. Not too daring but shined in its simplicity."

She stared at the man who by now had dropped his jaw from what he heard and she thought maybe she had critiqued wrong and had insulted the artist himself. Before she could apologize, the melody from her phone sung which alerted her of its attention. She quickly picked up the phone and spoke, "Hello!"

All she could hear was her sister, Hanabi screaming loudly on the other end. She quickly hung up the phone for fear that the loud screaming would start attacking not just verbally but physically. She stared at it for a bit as if it would start attacking her from other sides of the technological communication equipment.

She looked at her host and said, "I'm sorry but I have to go. I was supposed to have breakfast with my family this morning. Please forgive me for my rudeness and unbecoming behavior at the front of your business but I must leave now. Thank you for the cake." The girl was already walking out the kitchen door and into the dinning area.

When she made it to glass door of the store's front, he had grabbed her arm again. He said smiling, "This is one of my favorites. Come back and we can discuss it together." He placed the book in her hand and when she was about to thank him, her phone rang again. He pushed her lightly out the door and waved good bye to her. He watched the girl with the navy oversized knitted beanie, double breasted navy knee length coat, and knee hi brown leather boots walk away and he couldn't help smiling from that strange interaction with the interestingly strange girl.

"Sasuke, can you help me with these boxes?" asked Chouji coming from the kitchen. Sasuke walked back to the kitchen and saw the two thirds eaten slice of cake and began laughing out loud and holding onto his stomach from the pain of his uncontrollable fits of laughter. He had even shed a tear and amazed that the girl had chosen that exact dish. It was from the cake that Naruto and he made together as a gag gift to see what Chouji would do when he returned from his morning shopping trip. They then displayed it in the display window and when he went outside to inspect it, she was there doing something he wouldn't expect a young lady to do ever when it concerned a public window.

When he looked up again, he saw Chouji finishing that same dish and had this look like he was trying to figure out the taste. "Mmm. This is good. I like the combination you put in here. How did you even think of using the raspberry tart sauce as a splash of flavor?"

Sasuke was beside himself. He thought the unlabeled brown jar was caramel but was amazed that the baker and strange girl figured out what the sauce was. The whole thing perplexed him because he didn't like sweets at all. He just looked at Chouji and shrugged his shoulders from the whole intentional gag which turned into something else. He went out the back door and helped Chouji with unloading the rest of his truck.

From inside the store he could hear Naruto screaming, "Hey, the clothes are dried now and I hung them up. You better go see your brother before he gets mad again." Earlier Naruto started a water balloon fight when he was on the roof taking a break from his work and Sasuke personally made sure the blond cleaned up his mess. It must've been a lot of work for him because when he left the roof to change, the roof looked like a hurricane came by carrying dozens of water balloons along with its destruction. He was working on the faux wooden books to sit on the shelves to be sold with a coffee or tea cup, saucer, and cake dish that he, Naruto and Chouji came up as the store's unique selling product. The books were the usual empty compartment containers but each one was designed to look like an actual book but could only be opened with the right key that he made for each book.

He had brought a small section of his own personal library as inspiration to paint and design the secret compartment books with but was amazed when the girl bee lined to the real books themselves. The real books were only housed on one shelf and she went to admire that one. It was as if she could feel that those were the genuine article and that the rest were fakes. Just like how interestingly she had chosen his cake from all the beautiful selections previously designed by Chouji before he went shopping, she selected the cake she saw in the window that he himself had made and placed there.

He noticed her admiration for the books and thought that he would try to get her to come back again to entertain him. He scribbled his name and number inside the back cover quickly on the aged book and hoped that the book would be the one connection he had with the girl with no name but had exquisite taste in books but wasn't sure about her taste for cakes.

"Did you just eat this cake? I thought you said you don't like sweets" asked Naruto when Chouji and he were finished unloading the truck.

"I don't," he answered and saw the finished plate. He explained, "I thought that I would try our masterpiece for once instead of messing with our partner all the time but I am afraid to inform you that the taste is quite delicious." He had nudged Chouji then and Chouji only knows all too well how the two loved to prank him all the time but was very patient with the two knowing that this was a business opportunity for all of them.

Naruto walks over the practical joke creation, sliced a piece onto a small dish, and took a fork to taste it. "You're right it is good," he said convinced now. "Say Chouji why don't we market this?"

Before Chouji could say anything, Sasuke cut in, "An intentional joke turned into a real cake, that's impossible." And all three guys nodded in unison.

"Say Sasuke why are you wearing my uniform?" asked Chouji while he was staring at the embroidered name on the chef jacket. Naruto and Sasuke began laughing when they knew they were caught some how. Earlier when they were making the cake both had put on one of his uniform sets and pretended to be him because once Chouji puts on his pastry chef uniform he would instantly transform into the 'French Pâtissier perfectionist.' That was what the boys had named him because he would start speaking French and singing Broadway tunes with that French accent.

The three decided to become partners after they were reunited at their High School Class Reunion last year and found out that they failed as individual enterprises whereas with this store they combined their skills and came up with a harmonious business concept.

The combination of the pastry chef, a barista, and a furniture designer was the brainstorming behind the name of the small business they came up with called, the "Orion's Belt." A place where you could escape reality to taste unique blended drinks and sophisticated desserts while admiring unique ornate furniture. Meanwhile the room was filled with titles of books that spoke to your heart and brought you places where your imagination can only take you there.

"I'm gonna go see my brother now. You boys got this, right?" asked Sasuke pointing at the recently opened yet empty shop. The other two gave their thumbs ups and Sasuke went upstairs by way of the kitchens back door that led to a spiral stairway. It led to the upper level of the building. The upper half was the apartments to all the guys who were recently reunited friends from High School and bought the building together. Shikamaru the forth occupant of the place was a part-time office worker who worked at their café on his free time as a server. The fifth was Sai who was a struggling artist and writer and decided to help out as a server too when he wasn't working on his art.

He quickly changed his clothes because his brother was annoying when it came to appearances. He undid all the bobby pins that were stuck on his head from when he was staining at dawn that morning. Also that morning, his brother Itachi called and asked for his immediate presence to be in attendance at the family business later that morning and that he should get ready to get down and dirty to do some work.

He left in his truck and drove up to a large building downtown with the Uchiha clothing brand displayed for the world to see in all its glory. He hated this place because he used to work here during his youth. As he drives around to the back to park his vehicle he wondered why his brother had called for him this time. Whatever it was, he had to brace himself and he shuddered just thinking what his brother could possibly be wearing today.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Hinata, stop fidgeting!" said Hanabi trying to get her sister to calm down after her elder sister was scolded terribly by their father in front of their cousin and externally probed at by strangers. "Alright Hinata, I have to return to the office and you better have this dress done today before you won't have a dress for father's party tonight." They were celebrating the family's business Centennial Anniversary. The Hyuga's are known in the design of rich textile manufacturing since the Edo Era for producing unique and rich woven fabrics.

Their ancestors brought one of the first looming mechanisms from England and then redesigned it to a more Japanese preference looming style. Then they multiplied production and quickly earned the respect of the people for their quality rich texture and elegant designs and were always punctual on all orders to the market. They were for a period the king's personal robes designer by drawing the delicate patterns that would be stitched for the king's next court appearance. Long before the successful manufacturing, the Hyugas had to send a maiden from their clan that was educated in the art and then sent her to live in the imperial castle to fulfill the job as the king's personal robes designer. The tradition ended when the Royal Family moved from the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo and the story of the Hyuga maiden that lived in the imperial courts died along with the fallen grand court and marvelous castle in Kyoto during the Onin War.

"Oh, why were you late this morning?" asked Hanabi curiously knowing that her father didn't like tardiness.

"I tasted a piece of heaven that the gods had brought down for us mortals to enrich our palates with and it was simply divine," she said dreamily. "Oh, I discovered a place that had beautiful," she cut herself off thinking that she didn't want to share her new hideout even if she had to share it with the strange baker.

"This is the third time this week that you had to return here and have a viewing for this dress that still isn't done yet because of you."

"I don't like to be poked, touched and pinned together by fabrics that doesn't represent me," she said pouting and couldn't believe that she had to be there with the Uchiha couture and seamstress staffers staring at her from the other end of the room.

She finally spoke to them daringly, "I'm going to the bathroom." She left the room with Hanabi and they parted ways after a hug that hurt very much from the leftover pins with Hanabi promising to return once the dress was done. She only had on her fitted cardigan dress but some of the pins were still stuck on her when she swatted the many hands touching her earlier.

She hated these things that her father always made her do which were completely against her will like last week's marriage interview. She stood up the poor fellow but found out today from her father that the two marriage matchmakers from both sides were now dating due to the fact that both key parties were absent for their meeting. She was looking for the ladies room when she walked past a large corridor that led to the owner and President himself, Itachi Uchiha at the moment was teasing his little brother for being late as usual and bringing a strange gift.

"You can't possibly think that I would eat that calorie enriched piece of cake you have packed for me, dear brother," said Itachi while he was staring at the offered box before him and he looked offended that Sasuke dared to bring that in his precious domain. He had his fingers entwined on his lap while lounging in his plush leather executive chair. Around him was his usual entourage, his friends known as the "Rat Pack" which was synonymous to the American play boys of the rich Hollywood celebrities back in the sixties. To establish their fame they had matching rings with number designs and each wore theirs on a different finger and had always invited Sasuke to be the sixth member but he refused saying that he thought five of them was just enough for this world to handle.

His brother was dressed in a black fitted shirt with the sleeves looking like they had been torn off from his arms and tight leathered pants that was adorned with many bejeweled belts and many cross charms dangling about. Sasuke could only assume that today must have been a goth-like day for his brother. Itachi's hair was pulled back and spiked at the ends. Luckily Sasuke wore his navy buttoned shirt with his nice slacks because knowing Itachi he might just make him change his clothes before entering the room again. He always felt uncomfortable when he was around his brother's friends and he still didn't understand why.

The well known hair dresser and tattoo fanatic, Deidara was looking into a handheld mirror admiring his luscious locks and sitting on the couch behind Sasuke. Next to Deidara was Kisame, the famous photographer known for his controversial, sexual, and experimental underwater shots, was painting his nails. Toward the glass wall stood the infamous make-up artist, Sasori known as a god for making even the ugliest duckling look like a fabulous swan. He is also known for his eye brow plucking technique that can transform the face contours after he worked his magic on the said eye brows which would then make their eyes the focal point of his artwork by emphasizing the window to the individual's soul. Maybe that's why he always looks so young because of his make up talents, thought Sasuke.

And lastly his quiet personal assistance Pein who was known for his outrageous and unique piercing, was playing with Itachi's two pet cats on the floor. Itachi was known as their ringleader and is currently the leading fashion designer in the world for his unique street wear trends and couture gowns. His trends were ridiculously outrageous like for instance a couple of years back he wore a black haori-like robe piece over his tux with floating red clouds that became a fashion craze after he appeared at an award show. People fought over the garments that he introduced to the market and even the knock offs were seen everywhere. Currently, the latest trend was the black nail polish that all five in the room were currently wearing. They were known for leaving a trail of broken hearts every where they went. All five friends were models back then while attending Konoha's all-boys High School and now joined forces to build a more beautiful world where they had control of what was deemed beautiful or not by them.

Versus Sasuke's group of friends, known at the "Rag Tag Team" that was coined by his brother himself, was because the other four were kids from inferior family backgrounds. Whereas his was from a long line of family who were fashion designers since their ancestors produced the most beautiful geisha and oiran kimono designs and hair decorations back in the Meiji and Edo periods. They were trendsetters even back then. The Uchiha fans were given as gifts to these beautiful courtesans and hostesses as a branded symbol that they had been selectively graced by the wealthy sought after designers. That was just how vain and pompous a Uchiha could be.

He hated that he lived in his brother's shadow and had been designing clothes since childhood but was no where near his brother's brilliant talents that could change people's image and minds about fashion. He believed his own fashion talents was more at comfort to the wearer yet still pleasing to the eye just like how he liked his furniture. They may have been ornate and beautiful but when you sat on one of his chairs they were comfortable and easy to relax in. That was his ideal of beauty in clothes and furniture versus his brother's glamorous and outrageous innovations that were similar to their ancestors.

Not even trying to be cordial with his brother anymore he finally asked, "So, what do you want?"

"I need you to prepare a gown for a girl whose family is throwing a party that we are also invited to attend tonight. I need your assistance in making sure that she will be pleasing to look at and acceptable by her family. Since she is giving me some trouble and you owe me one. Please attend to her quickly because you didn't show up for that last marriage interview therefore you may return the favor now."

Since their parent's death, the second half of the inheritance set aside for the brothers wouldn't be given until Sasuke was married. But Sasuke never did found a girl worth his time. He had been dating models from his brother's place of work since he was young but couldn't find one that caught his eye, matched his sense of humor or saw the world like he did. His brother forced him to participate in gokons back in High School but realized that school girls were immature and needy. Sasuke even dated older woman but found them very independent but only treated him like a toy and not an equal.

He then decided to study under a wood crafting artisan group that went around Asia to reproduce antique furniture just to free himself from his brother's matchmaking arrangements and the ordeal of searching for a mate after High School but never found what it was that he was looking for out there beyond Konoha City. Now that he had returned, he still couldn't see himself with any of the girls from his hometown also.

Sasuke walks into the room after his brother finished instructing him and when he opened the door he couldn't help but smile. There she was the girl from this morning that had caught his attention by committing a bizarre act was standing on the modeling platform while she was kicking the seamstresses meanwhile apologizing for her rudeness.

While they were occupied, Sasuke walks over to the board to see what the designs were that Itachi had originally drawn up for her and memorized her measurement chart next to the drawing. He then took the instructed designs and walked over to the girl.

She looked surprised when he came up to her and the other staffers acknowledged his presence and all stepped back from the young lady. "You, come here," he instructed like earlier in the café. She followed without hesitation and they left the room together with him holding onto her hand and leading her down the hall.

He brought her to another room further down the hall. He had his office locked up since High School and it took awhile for him to find the right key from his keychain. The office was only permissible by entry to his brother, cleaning staff, and himself. He was also a private person but at this moment he thought that the girl needed a sanctuary from that offensive attack of her personal space.

After he turned on the light to the office, he pulled her in and began to inspect her. He twirled her around as if they were dancing and he pinpointed all the pins and needles that were left on her as she willingly let him guide her. He had her stop suddenly so that he could release all the pins stuck on her clothing meanwhile, she never protested or spoke. By the time he was done, she looked happier and less tense than before. He then walked her over to the couch and instructed her, "Sit here and wait for me. I won't be gone but a moment." She nodded her head and was already making herself comfortable on the long red cushioned couch.

He walked back into his brother's office and announced when he entered, "I'll take the job as long as you free me from your dating services. Is it a deal?"

His brother looked pensive but he looked like he was having trouble with her so he finally said, "Deal but I will only give you three months of freedom and I will continue my search of your bride again till then"

"Fine and I'm taking back my gift," replied Sasuke who picked up the box on the desk and had now left the room. He wanted to tell his brother that he had made it but decided that the girl probably needed it more than his brother did. His brother also had a brother complex that was completely annoying to Sasuke because in the past his brother would go and visit all the places that he worked at just to be able to have some kind of connection with him or the time when he bought all the onigiris that he was selling for his class at the cultural festival back in High School.

He went back in the work room that she was just at and looked over the fabric that was meant for her to wear. It was a thick light blue taffeta. He didn't like it and went through the catalogues of swatches sitting on the table. When he finally found the right colors and materials, he assigned two staffers to search for the fabric down in the warehouse or to purchase it if necessary on his account. Then he instructed one staff member with a list he dictated items that the person had to buy from the haberdasher or look for in their warehouse. Once they were gone, he was already drawing sketches of the dress he thought might be perfect on the client.

He wanted a gown that looked like she transformed and was inspired by the animated movie where the godmother transforms the poor girl into a gorgeous and glamorous person to attend a ball. He designed a unique skirt where the stitching of the shimmering toile would cascade from the bodice going diagonally downward and drawing attention to her waist. The effect would look similar to the magic that swirled around the princess like girl from the movie during the magical transformation.

He then designed a simple bodice with swirling white stitching. The stitching was already on the fabric that he chose from the swatches and asked the ladies in charge of beading to incorporate the beads he had chosen into the stitching which then changed the texture on the bodice. The beading was only to continue the magic swirling effect look that he was trying to get at. He instructed the other staffers on the final look of the buttons and asked that the metals used on the bodice would be cushioned for the young lady understanding that she was probably playing host tonight.

He called his brother and asked if Sasori and Diedara could also assist later on the finishing touches. When his brother agreed to lend his friends, he went back to his office to check up on the girl but she had already fallen asleep on the couch. He placed the cake on the coffee table, her belongings from the workroom and then went back to the workroom to begin working on the dress that was probably going to be a grueling challenge. Amazingly all the materials were in the warehouse and everyone went to work while he made the dress form and afterwards started drawing out the paper patterns.

Everyone took a half hour break for lunch once the dress was halfway done. He went to check on her and to share his lunch. She was lying on her stomach on the couch and had already eaten the cake.

"Are you hungry? Want some food?" he asked her as he walked up to her but she never answered or moved.

As he walked closer to the couch he found out that she was reading a book and upon closer inspection, she was reading his book. He smiled thinking that he was right in guessing that she would like to read something like that. He sat on the matching red recliner and opened his ordered bento. She must have smelled the aroma because she finally looked up from the book and sat up carefully placing the book on the coffee table with a pretty charmed book mark. He pointed at the bento and she nodded. He walked over to her and sat down. "How far did you get?"

"Hmm. I am at the part where our beloved herione's family selects her and then sends her away to the imperial court to fulfill her destiny as the robes designer to the king."

He offered her a 'to go' chop stick and she quickly snaps it apart and was already picking through the contents of the 'to go' lunch box on his lap. "Aren't you surprised to see me again?"

"No, it was like you were heaven sent and whisked me away from those evil people."

"Even though, I caught you doing that strange thing this morning?"

"Well, you did feed me so I put you in my not so bad list."

"Is that good or bad?" he asked incredulously.

"It means that you haven't proven yourself evil or had performed a saintly miracle." She went back to eating the bento as if she didn't see the insulted look he had on his face for working on her dress the last three hours, rescuing her from wearing Itachi's dress, and not reporting to the psycho squad on her this morning didn't mean a thing to her. She reached for the last cherry tomato in the bento with her chopstick when suddenly his chopstick stops hers from moving it toward her mouth. He comes in closer and seductively devours the small red garnish from her chopsticks. She blushes from the sudden act and surprise attack. She gulps from her blush and after realizing that he ate the last item on the side dish salad, comes in closer to say, "You are now on my bad list."

He smiled wickedly from what she said and did when suddenly there was a knock on the door. He replied loudly, "Yes."

A staff member informs them that Sasori and Deidara were waiting for her in the make up room. He was still looking at her, responded back with an 'ok,' placed the food and utensils down, took her hand and said, "We are going to meet your godfathers."

He bought her to the cosmetology room that was lined up with chairs and makeup stations on both sides. Sasori and Deidara came out from the back room and Hinata instantly hides behind Sasuke.

"Come, come we don't have all day," yells Deidara and clapping his hands. His white leather suitcase was impressive as always and organized from hair products to the most interesting hair tools and all matching his suitcase. "Time is of the essence," said Sasori softly leading the two to a salon hydraulic chair and station while setting up his little black leather make-up case and cosmetic tools.

Once she was done freshening herself up in the ladies' room from the back, they both went straight to work. While one was teasing her hair the other had already started plucking her eye brows.

He had seen them do this a million times before but somehow on this occasion it really did look like magic was being preformed on her. She didn't like the two men touching her so he stands a bit closer so that she could see him from the mirror and he began making ugly faces. Then he started making an imitation of her licking the window earlier and that was what made her completely stop being fussy to the two artist at work. "You do know that we are charging you for this service?" said Deidara looking over at Sasuke.

"Bill it to her father. I hear he's rich," stated Sasuke.

"So who is your father?" asked Sasori curiously. Sasuke was surprised that he spoke up first because he was curious himself as to who this girl was.

"Oh, he is Hiashi Hyuga of the Hyuga clan and of the textile industry. Have you heard of him?" she said it as if she didn't understand the impact it had on the others standing around her.

All three men gaped at the girl not believing that the brand name on all of Itachi's fabrics used for all his designs came from this plain girl's family. The same family, who was in control of most of the import and export in Japan and leader in the fabric industry in Asia, had two daughters and not one. The same family, whose only faces seen in all of the world's media were Hiashi, Hanabi, and Neji Hyuga, had one more main member.

The same Hyugas that could crush the Uchiha brand name if they ever went on strike or hiked their prices, was from this girl who didn't know how much power her surname had in the world. The same Hyuga's brand name that had been backing up the Uchiha's brand name and was always synonymous to the other if spoken in public was this girl's family name. So, yes the two beauty experts have heard of him and were making damn sure that her hair and makeup was done immaculately now.

She was the same girl that Sasuke Uchiha just realized that he had stood her up last week and he was now making her a dress to make up for it to his brother. He thought the world was definitely playing the biggest prank on him now and he was truly punked, indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Let me guide you. I'll lead and all you have to do is follow," he said to her while they walked.

The stranger from the interesting café and the one that rescued her from the dressmaker was now offering to save her from the surrounding crowded ballroom staring at them. What happened earlier was that her father had caught her reading a book hiding behind the stage curtain and he was chastising her for not being the dignified daughter that he had envisioned her to be tonight.

She felt hopeless and lost when suddenly the familiar hands that came to her aid earlier had come again to rescue her. He took her hand in his. He interrupted her father while he was lecturing her about the importance of playing host today to say, "Excuse me sir but I believe that your daughter owes me a dance. Please pardon us for the dance is about to start."

They walked away from her father who looked perplexed of the sudden change in the course of action that unfolded before him.

As they got closer to the open dance floor, she couldn't understand this feeling of comfort and relief that welled up in her as he took her hand and led her away from the disappointed look her father was giving her.

She liked the discovery of the intriguing books filled café that had unique cakes. She was curious and thankful when he showed up at the dress maker and led her away. She fell in love with the old book that he gave her to read which was at this very moment, she was dying to find out what was going to happen next. But she didn't understand how this stranger had a way of putting her at ease. Who was he?

After her sister Hanabi came back to pick her up with the finished dress, she didn't even have time to thank him because when they returned from the cosmetology room he offered to get her some drinks and told her to wait in the hall for him. Hanabi then found her in the hall and they both quickly exited the building with the dress due to the fact that their father hated tardiness. Here he was again when something bad happened to her, he came. He was like the knight in shining armor on his dashing steed in every fairy tale book she had read.

"Believe in me," he whispers in her ear as they enter the dance floor. The music was a German waltz and he waltzed her right in while she stumbled about. He leaned in closer and asked, "How far did you get on the story?"

Trying to count her steps and remembering when to reverse and trying to explain where she stopped in the book was hard for her at the moment. But the eagerness to discuss the book made her forget the steps and let the man guide her like he said he would. As they danced, she enthralled him with the chapters that she had just visited recently.

She began with zeal, "Our beloved heroine begins her travels on a long journey toward the Imperial Palace. On the way she encounters a band of robbers who captures her along with her belongings thinking that she was worth money to extort against the king with but when she was presented to the leader of the bandits, they discover that she was only an educated girl sent to be an embroidery artist for the King's robes." He led her backward for a reverse and turn and he was amazed at how easily she followed him.

She continued when the waltz picked up again, "Finding out that she was disposable in the court's eyes, they imprisoned her in their camp to cook and clean. But because she was well versed in stories and poems, she was then commanded to entertain the leader every night. She told stories of myths and legends, stories that she had read, poems that she memorized by heart, and even told stories that she concocted herself. He realized that she wasn't a threat and allowed her to walk freely among them without constraints and to solely serve him. As time flew by, the two eventually fell in love. She admired him for his compassion toward his people and his kindness toward her. He fell in love with her story telling and engaging conversations never once dared to touch her believing that her innocence was what made her special with how she spinned the tales which allowed him a glimpse into her world."

When she was done recalling the book from what she had read so far, the song had ended and he was staring deep in her eyes while they were still posed in the waltz position. The intimate pose made her realize that he had guided her without her remembering that they had danced the entire waltz and she was too mesmerized by the story that she forgot that their bodies were touching each other the entire time. A deep blush had begun to glow on her cheeks and then the conductor introduces the next song. Still in his arms, he guides her to the nearby opening towards a balcony.

They continued dancing through the next song but danced by themselves on the terrace. She continued staring into his onyx irises as if he was daring her and she challenged him back. At the end of the song, he had dipped her with one arm and she felt so secure in his lead that she allowed the dip to continue. It was the first time she felt so alive. She had been living in her work and in the books she read that she didn't know what she was missing out on in the real world.

He loved the shadowing effect that Sasori had delicately applied around her eyes and was completely drawn in to the opalescent irises. He accepted for once that Sasori was a god after all with his skillful talents. He also had to thank Deidara for making her hair look decadent in her pearl accentuated curls that were pulled back and then cascading to the side and past her slender neck. It revealed just a section of her nape and a full view of her profile where the side of her hair wasn't trailing down.

His creation fit quite nicely on her and he was proud that the measurements taken and his design transformed the wallflower into the next level of womanly sophistication. When they danced earlier, he knew that eyes followed them because he had led her to move in ways that her body didn't know she was able to. It was as if she played the role of the main heroine in a story while she spoke about the heroine in the current story book.

The second dance was seductive in the fact that she never once broke the eye contact that connected them. It was like they spoke through the expression of their bodies and both were captivated by the other even when they didn't know the other's name.

When the song ended he knew during the dip that he was taken captive by a girl who was a complete stranger but felt like they have known each other for a very long time.

He noticed the curved stairs on both sides of the terrace that led to the gardens and decided to lead her down one. While holding her hand, they both explored the gardens in the back of the grand castle inspired hotel rented for this occasion.

When he pointed out to a flowering tree in the garden, she tells him about the sad story she read somewhere in the past of a proud rich samurai who killed his wife for adorning the same kind of flowers on her hair one night because he assumed she had committed infidelity. To the samurai, the flower's meaning was guilt and shame but to her the meaning died along with her death. But the vengeful spirit returns every spring when that kind of flower blooms again to haunt the man who wrongfully killed her and to drive away all new brides and mistresses that enters that home to be driven away by their ensuing madness. Later on, the people of that village changed the meaning of that four white petal flower with orange pistils to be forgiveness and compassion hoping that the ghost wouldn't haunt them after the samurai's lonely death with no offspring to carry his name. Every spring after the samurai's death, all the trees on his land blossomed brilliantly with those blooms. She explained that even though we understand one meaning it doesn't mean the same meaning to someone else.

He was so shocked that she said something so strange after he was trying to show her something attractive but instead she inversely changed the mood to something else. In a situation like this before, he would be kissing the girl by now after adorning her mane with whatever flower was at hand and whispering sweet nothings that were comparable to the beauty of the flower but somehow he was more interested as to what she was actually thinking or is going to say next.

He then asks, "So are you the traditional society rule abiding supporter or the feminist that defends the wrongful death?"

She ponders for a bit while reaching for a bloom and when she obtains one, she finally answers, "I believe I am neither for I don't know if she was faithful or not. This is only a story that I believe was told to scare the kids away fabricated by the owner of the garden."

He leans his back on the tree and waits for her while she circles around the trunk of the tree. He asks, "Then hypothetically if the story was true, do you think that her death was an agonizing and painful one because she was brutally killed by her lover?"

By the time she rounded to side of the tree to complete her circle, she replied, "I think that she may have been sold to the samurai to pay off her family's debts and her final thoughts were 'why didn't I think of this sooner?' when she died."

"Then why come back to haunt the man that brought her a solution to her problem?"

She smiles thinking of something funny he observed while looking at her. She then places a flower in his pocket and says, "Then I guess I am a feminist after all because how else are we to keep our spouses in place. I guess any haunting vengeful ghost folktale would be a kill joy for any marriage." He laughs from her conclusion and seeing that she had lost interest in the topic by slowly wandering off, he decided that they should walk away from this intimidating bloom.

When he led her to a water fountain, they sat and looked at the moon together with sounds of the pitter patter of the splashing water from behind them. He was holding onto her hand and maybe even afraid that if he let go, she would disappear like the animated character he had envisioned the dress after.

Still looking at the sky, she finally said to him, "This made appearance of myself makes me believe that at the stroke of midnight I would turn back to the simple person I was before this magical day happened." She began to motion her free hand in the swirling effect of the gown he made slowly swirling upward like how the beading on the tulle creases which then gave the rippling effect of the skirt to the bodice on her evening gown. As if in deep thought she said, "It is all just an optical illusion like a barber's pole where the eyes are mystified by the movements of the colors but all along it was just one sheet of paper revolving. When the audience discovers how the contraption works, the magic is gone and I return to myself again."

She lifts her hand up to move her fingers in a wave motion slowly descending as if to show that the magic was slowly falling and crumbling to the ground. He tightens his grip on her hand which causes her to look at him and he leans in to whisper, "I believe that your magic had an effect on me and that the magic will continue its course by ascending higher." He lightly traces his index finger of his free hand on the delicate rippling he designed on her dress one curvy diagonal line at a time that he could reach until it reached her bodice. He halts for a couple of seconds not sure if he should continue and she quickly encourages him meekly, "And."

With that, he continued to move upward until it reached past the top of the bodice and stops again at her collarbone. He gently traces the area with his fingertips daringly and said, "And I believe the barber pole will always amaze me even when it stops moving and I see where the ends of the paper design being held together with tape. I will still believe that the colors will burst out of the pole and be freed from its constricted cage."

His lingering fingers then travels upward gently and were now touching her exposed neck that had seduced him all night. At this point he couldn't understand what was holding him back from kissing her. She looked willing as he cupped her chin and cheek and she closes her eyes as if giving him permission to go further but he was for once not sure if he should. He felt like he was taking advantage of her and decided he liked her purity and innocence intact and not dirtied by his filthy hands. The hands that had touched so many women in the past didn't deserve someone so pure in heart and mind. He ended up lifting the hand that he was holding and kissed the tips of each finger while his eyes looked at how she slowly opened hers to the surprise of his actions.

Suddenly from the hotel, they both could hear staffers screaming her name, "Miss Hyuga. Miss Hyuga. You are needed for the final presentations." She quickly releases his hold on her and runs toward the call. He quickly grabs her arm that was in flight and asked, "What is your name?"

She replies back quickly, "Kaguya-hime." She releases his hold and runs away as he stares at her back. He laughs to himself because he was surprised that she gave him the same name as the maiden from the book she was reading. The kidnapped maiden lied to the band of robbers and gave them a false name, Kaguya, to conceal her identity from her captors. He sat back down at the fountain when he heard the clamorous sound of clapping. When he looked up his brother and friends were walking out from behind the nearby hedges.

"That was quite a show dear brother?" complimented Itachi smiling at his little brother. "I thought for a second there that you almost got the girl." He was now fanning himself with an ornate Uchiha branded fan and dressed all decked out in a male kimono and haori of rich red, black, and white designs. The other four were also in kimonos in different designs of the same color scheme as his brother's.

Sasuke didn't feel like talking to his brother and his entourage and began walking toward the hotel. He also didn't like that they actually watched that whole scene from a distance.

"I saw you hesitate, did I not?" asked his brother teasingly.

Sasuke didn't want to fall into his pace and continued walking. He did stand her up a week ago thinking that she was the other sister and not once giving it a second thought but now that he remembered correctly. That same sister had an engagement announcement recently. So that must be why the family had to marry off the elder sister first so that the younger one could marry too without shaming the elder sister. It all just dawned on him. When he saw the portfolio on the Hyuga file from his matchmaker, he assumed that it was Hanabi and he knew instantly that he didn't want to date the same spoiled heiress that was always on the media representing the Hyuga Company. But now that he knew who the girl was that he stood up, he felt more guilt for doing something so cruel to such a nice person.

"My hesitation is none of your concern," he said while still facing the hotel and not turning around to face his brother.

"At this rate that you are moving, you will never get the girl," warned his elder brother while finding a place to sit on one of the garden benches that wouldn't ruin his outfit and quickly pulls out a handkerchief to be placed on the flat surface. When he sat up again, he crossed his legs and continued, "Would you like my assistance?"

"Never," he answered and walked away.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What am I going to do with you?"

"Itachi, why that girl?" asked Sasori. "You seemed determined since the matchmaker brought that portfolio to you a month ago."

"When I saw her picture, there was something familiar about her. Until I could remember, let's watch from afar as to how this story develops."

With that, the five guys returned to the party with a grand reentrance and continued flirting with the beautiful women in the dance hall enchanting them with their allure of beauty.

For the third time in one day, Sasuke couldn't believe that he had to part ways with a girl with an engaging conversation as he left the place with only a fake name to remember her by.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

His face twitched just slightly for a second as he tried to sense her condition from her wrist with the tips of his index and middle finger. He was already in a foul mood due to the fact that he was awoken earlier to the news that the elder Ms. Hyuga was in bed with a terrible ailment and he was to promptly aid her in her recovery. He dropped his plans and drove to her abode that was a little townhouse located on the quieter section on the outskirts of Konoha's downtown district.

He was also to report back later to his father and Mr. Hyuga on the updates on the patient's recuperation. Her condition at the moment was no where near being ailed or incapable to work. So, why did this silly woman have the gall to call in sick with her family and company to cancel an important consultation with a highly important client was definitely beyond him at the moment.

He was supposedly escorting the younger Ms. Hyuga together with her newly acknowledged fiancé, who was also his best friend, Kiba to Greece on a business trip. He was anticipating on being able to attend a seminar recommended by a famous entomologist to see first hand the mosquito death laser that was currently newsworthy in America and was being introduced to the European Entomology Society. His clan is well known for being physicians in the medical field and his family history could be traced back as far as the Edo period as private medical practitioners to select patrons including the lords and ladies of the Imperial Court.

Though insects have been his family's leisure recreation but medicine has always been their primary duty. At this very moment he was agitated that a certain distinguished clan heiress was playing hooky from work and trying to deceive him was enough to upset him.

He was already mad when he entered her home earlier to see that there was fresh dirt on her rain boots that she always wears to work on her lovely abundant garden on the building's roof top. Upon entering the small living room, he also noticed the packed suitcases that the young lady was suppose to catch the early train to reach the airport and then fly to Taiwan to meet a distinguish family to consult on their tapestry idea that was to be a present for their grandparent's 75th anniversary gift.

Hinata deals solely with special clients that request original and unique pieces to be produced by her family's company such as designing original prints for upholstering or a one of a kind special threaded needlepoint handkerchief encrusted with the family jewels. A job that completely hides her from the public eye and media while she works endless hours in the company's shadow. Each project may take several months or several years. For as long as he has known her, this would probably the first appointment cancellation that she has ever done. What could possibly be ailing this quiet girl who hides behind books and her art?

"Hinata if you had other plans for today, why did you involve me?" he asked calmly. The wrist that he was holding swiftly retracted under the bed cover like a turtle hiding from its prey. A minute passed and a soft sigh could be heard from underneath.

The deep brown bed cover sluggishly but more stubbornly unearthed a grown woman completely dressed in a black turtleneck, a grey tweed pocketed jumper and a crocheted knee-hi black boots. In defeat, she finally spoke, "I wanted to visit the café where you bought me the cakes last time you visited me." Bingo, he thought that he heard running footsteps from when he tried to open her front door earlier with the spare key she gave him long ago and was snickering when he spotted her boots. She must have been preparing to leave her house when he was knocking on her door and ruined her plans for today with his unexpected visit.

"You could eat it anytime. It's just down your street. If you like to, I know those guys, so I could ask them to deliver."

A blush slowly crept onto her cheeks and then the bed covers suddenly fluttered about was shielding her once again. The entire act finally dawned on him that Hinata Hyuga has a crush on one of the five at the café and he had to decide between his loyalties to friendship or honor his profession as the Hyuga's personal doctor.

He was sitting on an ottoman near her bed and seeing that she wasn't going to talk anytime soon, he finally spotted her messenger bag that was probably thrown on the floor as she tried to scramble in her room during her flight upstairs while concocting a plan to fool her uninvited guest. This time he sighed.

He started picking up the various books that had escaped during their landing and shoved them back in the worn leathered bag. He was just about to grab the last book sprawled open when the supposedly sick patient came out of no where to energetically intercept the raggedy hardback.

Looking as if she was caught shoplifting; she replied quickly, "I'm still saving the last couple of chapters to read for later. Please don't misplace the marked pages." She grabbed back the bag to gently place the book inside and continued, "Thank you though, Shino."

They have known each other for a long time but this was rude even for her. Maybe it hurt his feelings that she wouldn't confide in him about what was on her mind or that he was jealous of the fact that his timid friend was treating him differently. Now he had to rethink this whole thing. From the five guys that work at that café, who could possibly have caught her eye?

"So, who does that book belong to?" he asked as he sat back on the ottoman again as he repositioned his ocular circular transitionals on his nose.

She looked baffled from the question and then finally answered, "He is in reality my prince charming but in my fantasy he exists as the leader of the bandits."

Shino had to stop himself before saying what he really wanted to say but finally replied, "I will inform your father that you are not ill but that you have been over worked and will need a long vacation to clear your mind and rest your body. I will suggest that you accompany your sister during her travel to Greece. Since I will be escorting her, you will be directly under my care and I will personally request a capable artist to replace you until I deem you well to return to work. If you refuse this offer, I will have to tell your father the truth that his lazy dishonest daughter was only defying him so that she could meet the owner of said book, who is a prince, a bandit, and a staffer at a café. Which one do you think he is dying to hear about?"

"You wouldn't?" she whispered astonished from the sudden announcement and demand.

The shock on her face was priceless and he couldn't help snickering inside. It wasn't that he was evil or trying to be mean to her but for once he felt like he had to really pull her down from the clouds that she had been drifting on. It was about time that Hinata had a taste of what is was outside her books and textiles. Maybe seeing first hand what Hanabi does everyday would change her meek personality and draw confidence to herself instead of her desire to blend in with the scenery stagehand rather than being the actors with lines. This could be an opportunity for her to spend some time with her childhood friends like before when the four would play together at gathered clans parties for special occasions.

"Yes, I would and before we set off, I am dying to acquaint myself with your so called 'hero.' Shall we begin our journey?"

What Shino said, Shino did. He had her suitcases shipped off while making arrangements to travel to Europe with both their father's agreement all the while looking smug and happy.

She grabbed her coat, scarf and bag and they both visited the café together on foot. She was still a little nervous to meet him again so soon since yesterday was a jumbled mess of chance meetings and sudden departures. She was apprehensive about almost losing her first kiss to him but was rejected in a way that was just as sweet as if he did kiss her. She was hoping to share her thoughts on the book before reading toward the ending. She hated endings for they never really quench her desire in obtaining what she deemed as happy ending for each individual story.

As they approached the café she was wishing deep down inside how she would love to have her heroine be with the bandit's leader forever in the camp of merry men but at the exact moment where she stopped in the book was a gut wrenching cliffhanger.

Somehow someone from the village had sold information to the nearest military unit camping nearby on the fact that they had imprisoned a royal robes designer. When she read to that point, she instantly marked the page and deemed it unreadable until further notice. As they entered the familiar café, her heart was racing and she couldn't fathom which one was the cause for that: the fact that the military general was described as a possible second leading man or that she was about to encounter another chance meeting with her possible real life leading man.

"Shino, long time no see." They were greeted by a tall chubby man dressed in a chef uniform and long brunette tresses tied in a knot similar to a samurai's top-knot but located instead at the nape of his neck. "And who might this lady be?" asked Chouji.

"This is my friend, Hinata Hyuga," introduced Shino.

"Pleasure to meet you, Chouji's the name," offered Chouji from behind barista bar. Suddenly an alarm of sorts could be heard and Chouji exited to the kitchen while screaming back to them, "I'll be right back, make yourself at ease."

Hinata seeing that the chef was not the same chef as last time was trying to figure out what was going on. When Shino sat on a bar seat at the bar, she inquired, "Are there more bakers here?"

"No, I believe Chouji is the only pastry chef here."

Suddenly from behind the double kitchen doors appeared another man who wasn't the man she encountered before here. He had dark hair and it was pulled into a high ponytail. He yawned when he approached Shino and meanwhile adorned a long black apron with a silver badge that had 'Shika' engraved on it, before asking, "Welcome, what would ya like to order?"

"A cup of coffee for me, thanks. Hinata what would you like?" asked Shino.

She wanted to say that she would prefer the man from yesterday but she was getting a feeling that he didn't exist anymore. She finally answered, "A hot tea would be fine."

"How has work been?" asked Shino. Shika poured a cup of coffee for Shino and than placed a box of assorted tea bags, a small hot teapot, and a teacup with saucer and teaspoon in front of Hinata. She bowed and he finally answered, "Like every other day. I hope this place picks up a bit and then I could quit my boring office job." Another observation that Hinata noted was that the place was a bit quiet for an interesting establishment. She prepared her tea and within minutes she was sipping the fragrant hot herbal flavored water while listening to the two discuss the economy.

Later another person walked in the front door and she assumed was a customer but was wrong when the dark haired man greeted Shino, "Salutations old friend." He was carrying a large art portfolio black backpack that was similar to the one she carried when she studied art at the University. He disappeared behind the double doors and then later reappeared again with the same uniform as Shika except his name plate read 'Sai.'

After another round of introductions, the three men continued reminiscing about High School while Hinata stood back and wondered where could her guy be? She slowly walked over to the books and upon closer inspection; they were fake wooden hollow boxes. She then ran toward the other book shelves and was horrified at her discovery. Did she hallucinate the entire time she was here at the café? She curiously braved the enchanting stairs to inspect the books up there but was interrupted midway when she heard a familiar voice from behind the chaise on the loft. She apprehensively walked a bit closer but was suddenly halted by a familiar blond who jumped up from the chaise and screamed, "Gotcha!" He had a laser gun and adorned with laser what nots and was about to shoot her but he soon realized she wasn't his target.

While she was trying to calm down from the sudden surprise attack, she instantly recognized her first crush. The memories of her past suddenly overflowed her brain system and triggered the safe mode option which sent her lying on the wooden floor unconscious. But before her body made contact with the floor, she somehow involuntarily spoke the name that she hadn't voiced in many years, "Naruto."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

He was trying to imitate the right strumming sounds for the beats to a particular song. It was an old song that his brother played all the time when they were younger so the tune was particularly embedded in his brain. Somehow thoughts of a certain quirky stranger reminded him of the classic. He wasn't a romantic either but it just felt right playing and humming the tune while he was lounging alone.

He was supposed to be amidst a battle against Naruto in a friendly game of laser tag but eventually lost interest when he came across his guitar again. He found it earlier before the declaration of war was made when he shelved the remaining wooden book decorations that had dried and removed the real books that were used as the models. He then packed up the genuine books back into his room and came across the lonely instrument that bought him a diversion from the demands he faced in the world of fashion during his youth.

He was a bit cramped where he sat but knew that this was the only room in the building that enhanced the sound of his mediocre playing. He had his bangs swept to the side and clipped up with a huge blue button designed hairpin he found in the mirrored medicine cabinet earlier. He was dressed in his favorite t-shirt and dark jeans that have been damaged from wear and tear. It had become a bit more colorful now that he had completed the wooden fake books from all the staining and painting.

The sound was finally familiar to the old cheesy mellow pop song but somehow he always thought that it was a great masterpiece to play when one needed to set the mood. He started humming again until he heard a knock on the outer door. He was about to announce that the room was already occupied but in walked the same person as the one that had been occupying his mind. Maybe he was delirious from all the cleaning products used to keep the room squeaky clean and disinfected.

She walked in nonchalantly as if it was a normal sight to have a grown man in the bathtub hutched over an old wooden string guitar. She leans a bit against the door frame that separated the bathroom from the entrance room. The entire time while she was standing there, she kept staring at him. While staring back at her, he could also sense a feeling of relief from the way her body relaxed so suddenly. It was as if seeing him actually being here had a deep impact on her, somehow.

Thinking that she had a purpose to enter in here, he then pointed at the commode and she kindly refused the offer and instead walks toward him to position herself on the edge of the tub. Compared to yesterday, she looked tired and sleepy right now but she still expressed the sweetest contented smile. The expression made him wondered if he was the cause for that smile too.

She then pointed at his guitar which he understood the hint and continued where he stopped before. He hummed while she sang the lyrics of "Eternal Flame" once she recognized the familiar melody. During their performance session, he noticed that when she sang her eyes were closed and with her legs crossed, her ankles would on occasion sway to the rhythm. She wasn't a talented singer nor was she tone deaf but her singing was somewhat complimenting to his average strumming.

By the time the song ended, they both clapped for the other's performance.

"Have you come for the second book?" he asked thinking that she was done with the first and was dying to find out what happened next which would explains her sudden visit.

"It's a series?" she asked with little twinkles sparkling in her eyes.

"You didn't read the last couple of chapters?" he asked incredulously. "That's alright; it took me awhile to get over the fact that there was a traitor amongst them. You probably took it hard didn't ya?"

"I was more intimidated by the introduction of the general in the story. How he had met Kaguya as a civilian dressed in informal clothing at the market several times during her shopping trips and even rescued her once from thugs made me realized that he was going to be a possible rival to the leader. How he had already made plans for a surprise attack during the bandit's festivities. During the festivities, our heroine, who was feeling insecure of the leader's feelings for her, wandered away from the camp to be alone to think, felt like to me a predictable scenario was about to happen." She looked hurt while she explained her views and animating the scenes with excited hand motions.

He sighed and realized that she wasn't reading this as a historical piece but as a romantic piece instead. He then asked, "Then tell me honestly, who would you rather have Kaguya choose? The leader with no name and has never been intimate with her or the general, who had told her his name and had been in slight intimate predicaments with her due to strange circumstances? The guy that rarely talked to her but listened sincerely and respectfully to all her interesting stories or the guy that had the killer smile, charming manners, and pleasing personality?"

She looked pensive while she scrunched up her face and stroked an imaginary beard. He had to turn away holding in his laugh for fear that his abrupt laughter might interrupt their conversation.

For a moment there it looked like she was arguing with herself as she muttered facts and then answering herself sometimes. This time he had to turn away and cover his mouth while holding in his uncontrollable laugh.

She was about to answer him when suddenly there was loud knocking at the door and sounds of many footsteps heard coming from outside. She quickly looks at him cautiously and with one hand covered his mouth and the other expressed a librarian's please be quiet hand signal upon her lips.

"Are you still mad at me? I am truly sorry for causing you to faint with that sudden ambush and then you felt sick afterwards from sniffing the smelling salt. I'm really sorry. Really I am," pleaded Naruto.

With her hand still on his mouth, he was having a hard time holding in his laugh due to Naruto's described scenes playing in his mind which made her enforce a stricter shhhh-ing face and continuing pointing her finger on her mouth. She yelled back, "It was all an accident. All is forgiven and I have already forgotten the mishap. So, let's leave it behind us." She was stumbling for words and hoping those words were enough to suffice his worries to leave them alone.

"How are you doing in there?" asked Shino.

She couldn't believe that she had forgotten all about Shino and the commands he made earlier.

"I'm ok," she answered back.

Many voices could be heard talking outside the door and suddenly Shino announces back to her, "Um, I'll be waiting for you downstairs and please hurry up. We have a plane catch soon. You have maybe five more minutes to freshen up, ok."

"Alright," she answered back.

Sasuke took this opportunity to remove her hand from covering his mouth and asked, "Where are you going?"

She whispers as if in fear of being caught, "Europe."

He was still holding her hand; he then helped her up and guided her to follow him. Once the sounds of the crowd dispersed from outside the entrance room door, he quickly leads her down the hall. They were caught midway by Shikamaru as he was walking out of his room but seeing the two sneaking about thought that it was less trouble to leave the issue alone. So he decided to not say a word and walked past them to reach the stairs. They continued down the hall as if unfazed by the recent bystander and entered the last door.

Once inside, he started running his free hand on the bookshelves and open boxes until he found a similar volume cover like the one he gave her before. He let go of her hand and grabbed a pen to scribble something inside the book. Finally he placed the book in her hand and pleaded, "Promise me, you'll contact me."

She embraced the book as if she was given a mission and looked directly into his eyes to state, "I want her to be with the leader."

He smiled, grabbed her shoulder to turn her around, and from behind she could feel him touching her back with his pointer finger which felt like she was taken at gunpoint from behind. He leans in and whispers in her ear, "No matter the result, keep that in mind."

While he spoke those words to her, he wrote several characters vertically on her back with the tips of his index finger. The markings were unidentifiable due to her pounding heart and mind incapacitated from functioning properly. She was so dazed that she didn't even remember when he had ushered her out the door and waving to her from above the spiral staircase. All memories of entering the car, traveling to the airport, flying to another country, were just lost due to the fact that her memory capacity was currently overloaded to be able to enter any more information at the time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"I'll match that and re-raise you another twenty," said Shikamaru to Naruto's recent raise. As he pushed the three stacks of chips to the center of the table, he gave Naruto a sinister smile that showed no signs of weakness on his part. For some reason, Shikamaru could sense that the blond was bluffing this round with the way he was boasting when Sai folded.

After a minute of contemplating whether or not he should fold or call, Naruto finally disappointedly folded his three queens that looked so promising at the beginning of the game. He threw the cards on the pile deck and screamed, "Man, ya'll play dirty!"

Chouji was next to deal. He shuffled, dealt, and asked everyone at the table present, "Hey, do you guys remember Shino ever having a female friend?"

Everyone at the table thought pensively as they looked at their cards. In High School, Shino never gave any indication that he was interested in girls.

"No," they all finally answered in unison for Shino was completely focused on all and anything concerning insects.

Sasuke was next to the big blind so he called the ante and inquired, "So, what is his relationship to the girl this morning?"

"I call. He introduced her as his friend so she could be his girlfriend," speculated Chouji.

"Who I believe Sasuke has already stolen her from him," interjected Shikamaru and giving Sasuke a wink.

"She was lost so I gave her directions," explained Sasuke.

"She looked familiar though like I met her before. She even said my name when she fainted," deduced Naruto.

"Now that you mention it, there was a girl that confronted us at the," said Shika who paused trying to remember the location and time of the confrontation.

"I remember now. She's the only girl that ever confessed to Naruto during High School," realized Sai.

"That girl confessed to me back then and I don't recall this!" screamed Naruto while he threw his cards on the table and felt flustered. He suddenly stood up and slammed his hands palms down on the table causing the table contents to scatter about and completely destroying all hopes of continuing the card game. "Where was I?" he demanded at the four pairs of eyes staring back at him.

"Calm down," reassured Sasuke, "You were there but you were oblivious to what she was attempting at." He remembered now. She was a timid girl that was always at the train station in the morning and always staring at Naruto. For awhile there back then, he was annoyed that there were eyes following him but this particular one was different. He was used to either lustful or flirtatious feminine eyes following him all the time but hers toward him were somehow unwanted. He couldn't explain it. Like he was the obstruction in her eyes but he eventually figures out that those eyes were actually trailing Naruto and not his after he witnessed her strange confession to his friend.

"That's right it happened after our concession stand was sold out during the second day of our Cultural Festival and she walked up asking for something," retold Chouji.

"Ah," recalled Shikamaru, "She was in line after Itachi and his friends bought all the onigiris at our concession that by the time she came forth."

"Naruto was redirecting her to another concession stand," added Sai and rudely cutting off Shika.

Both Chouji and Shikamaru suddenly stood up with a wicked smile and was re-enacting the scene so that Naruto can see just why he couldn't remember.

Chouji said softly and sweet in a high pitched voice while swaying from side to side, "May I purchase an onigiri?"

Shikamaru trying to keep his composure and not bursting out laughing from the scene before him declared monotonously, "We appreciate your patronage but our shop is now closed. You could visit the other vendors around here that might have onigiris." He raised a palm at Chouji and the other hand pretended to be closing up the shop.

Chouji bravely removed Shika's hand from his face and quoted, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind." He fluttered his eye lashes at Shikamaru and continued, "If the entire world were a stage then my role had always been someone who uses her imagination as a means to be close to you."

Suddenly Sasuke interfered the farce, "In my mind, you play many roles but they all eventually end with you reciprocating my feelings."

Shikamaru ends the little skit with, "So, you are a fan of Shakespeare then you should attend our freshman's play this evening."

Chouji then reenacted the scene where Hinata was in shock and running away from the concession stand. Shikamaru and Chouji then stood near each other and bowed for the clapping ovation.

"So was she confessing to me?" asked Naruto and by now the boys continued cleaning up the poker chips that had now been scattered all over the kitchen floor meanwhile ignoring Naruto's questions about that day.

By the time Sasuke returned to his room, he laid down on the bed welcoming the comfort it offered and slowly remembered the details of that exact day over a decade now of what actually happened between him and the girl who confessed to Naruto. A smile gently appeared on his face and he eventually fell asleep while playing a role he felt that he was destined to play.

In another continent and in a different time zone as the 'Rag Tag Team's weekly poker game, sat another group of people who were having lunch and engaging on the same topic.

"Shino, did you invite my sister or a zombie?" asked Hanabi. "She's been acting strange ever since she got here and practically holed herself in her room. Even now she wouldn't come out for lunch and asked to have it brought to her room instead."

"I miscalculated many things yesterday but one was Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata's first crush. It had been so long that she hadn't spoken that name so I assumed she had forgotten that silly crush."

"Naruto!" exclaimed Kiba. "That guy is still the same as ever. Even after traveling the world with his Godfather and becoming a barista, he's still as loud and simple as ever."

Shino wanted to say the same about Kiba but decided that ignorance is bliss. Even though, Kiba belonged to a family who deals with rare antiques nowadays but they are actually well known since the Edo Bakufu period as spiritualist who dealt with demon exorcism with the assistance of their spiritual canine spirits, who serve them. But what worries Shino the most is the fact that the Inuzuka clan had been under the curse that all males in the clan have short lives due to the immense powers needed to control the powerful spirits. Since the engagement announcement between the two, Shino had been keeping an eye on them.

"So yesterday before going to the airport, we visited the café that Naruto owns and Hinata experienced another fainting spell. I thought the whole crush ended after her confession but I guess old feelings are hard to rid."

"How did this crush came about?" asked Kiba.

"I don't recall all the details but one summer at the pool park when we were younger, she was rescued by someone when she was drowning. By the time she awoke in the infirmary, the nurse said that she was carried in by a boy named Naruto," retold by Hanabi of the past.

Across the dining room further down the hall, stood a dazed Hinata who was still shocked from what she was eavesdropping, the events from yesterday and the chapters that she just read.

She decidedly returned to her room at their Grecian villa off the high hills near the coastal line. She wanted to call the number that was written on the inside of the book cover from the first volume but the words that were written on her back were still warm from that contact of the swift fluid motions.

She was confused because she was also recalling that faithful day where she finally mustered enough courage to tell the boy who saved her long ago that she was in love with him. Her rejection was the worst case scenario possible because the receiver was oblivious to the recipient's message.

Would she be betraying the feelings she had from long ago compared to the recent awakening of the different emotions that the stranger could evoke in her by even the slightest touch. She was more confused when she read the rest of first book when she instantly arrived here. Her heart was torn apart by the recent events of the story.

As the bandits were celebrating, the military had attacked and captured all the bandits at the camp with the exception for the leader and his four most loyal trusted companions. The four escaped to warn their leader but he was also amidst of an ambush himself with our beloved heroine. The four laid low to eavesdrop on the conversation between the general and the leader who was holding the maiden hostage and telling the general that he held no feelings for the captive so murdering her would have no consequence on his shoulders.

The four escaped bandits then formulated a plan to rescue the leader after scanning the area, attacking the messenger reporting the success of the camp ambush to the general, and having visual count on all hidden soldiers surrounding the three bargaining in the clearing.

After the negotiations had exhausted both parties, the leader then decided to let the general have the maiden against his will. Before releasing her, he had one hand holding a short katana to her throat and one hand on her back which he used to write his farewell message with his index finger. The message was the answer to the question she had asked him before being rudely interrupted by the surprise attack.

As the maiden crossed the distance between the general and the leader, the four escapees began their attack on the surrounding hidden soldiers and succeeded with the five men running away in the distant horizon and the fair maiden crying in the arms of the general.

The first book ended with a 'To be continued.'

Hinata sadly and slowly dialed the number scribbled on the book and accepted the international fees. The phone rang four times before he finally answered but felt like an eternity waiting for his voice to be heard. He answered half asleep and confused, "Who the hell is this?"

"What the hell is this, an international prank call," he said angrily and groggily while staring at the phone number staring back at him. He was about the hang up the phone when he suddenly remembered that the Shakespearean recited girl had alas contacted him as he had requested of her.

The only sounds coming from her end were soft cries that may have been muffled by her pillow or what not.

"You finally read the ending to the first volume. Tap once for yes and tap twice for no," he instructed so that he could have an idea of how to comfort her.

He then heard one distinct tap which he realized that she had probably put him on speaker.

"Are you mad at the general for trying to rescue the girl and return her to the castle where she belonged?"

One single tap was heard along with a sudden whimpering.

"Are you mad that the leader and his men ran away and left his lover behind?"

Another solitary striking was heard and this time along with a loud moan.

"Do you dislike the story so far?"

After a long silence and her crying finally subsided, he heard two soft taps on the phone. She finally spoke to him, "Would it offend you if I called you Leader instead of Sasuke?"

Not knowing half the time what the girl was thinking, he answered smiling and slightly humored from the request, "I would be honored, Kaguya-hime." He did write his name and number inside the first book so she must have discovered his name but he felt that maybe she wasn't satisfied with the discovery.

"Then be honest with me, Leader. Was your message written on my back the same as the Leader's in the book?"

"If I remember correctly, the message he wrote was in response to her question. I think her question was something similar to why would you love someone and keep them at a distance from yourself. So in return he wrote 'I see you.'"

"Compared that written message with the story that she had told him one night before she was in the general's possession, the two are not as parallel with the intentions of the written message."

Sasuke smiled thinking that she was right but now he had to mold her thought so that it followed his train of thought. "Let me retell that story to you again. Are you in a comfortable position to be listening?"

One single tap was her answer.

He retold to her the story that the maiden had narrated to the leader from the book about the lonely spirit that fell in love with a human girl that could sense his presence but couldn't see him for she was blind. Since their encounter, he came and played with her everyday. Since the human and spirit world's time were different, the girl eventually grew older and was already at the age to be wed. Also, she had lost the ability to sense the ghost near her. The spirit was jealous that the girl was to become a bride to another came up with a way that would keep her for himself. He decided to write his name on her back so that she was cursed from others who dared come near her.

The curse eventually made her go mad due to the village despising her for the recent negative incidents that involved her such as her human husband dying on their bed the night of the wedding by natural cause or when she took walks that led to the destruction of the crops and nearby livestock the next day. The incidents were all unnatural and soon the villagers speculated that she was cursed and condemned her from the village.

The ghost was sad that he had caused her so much pain and decided to relieve her of the name on her back and recanted the curse. Instead from afar, he watched her live her life peacefully on a hill all alone until she was old and died. The ghost wrote on her tombstone a love message that read, "I have always been watching you from afar and even now that you are a spirit, I will continue to watch you from afar."

When Sasuke was done telling the story, he asked her, "So do you see the symbolism of the branded name on her back and the weight of the meaning of both message?"

"So are you watching me from afar?" she asked.

He wondered if she had listened to him at all the last thirty or so minutes while he was lying on his bed watching the sun rising before his window and the light filtering the room as they spoke.

"Honestly Hime, I wrote entirely of another matter but because I want to hear from you again, I'll leave it as 'To be continued' until we speak again. Tonight when you dream, think of me as an actor that is sharing a scene with you. Be Imaginative! Sweet Dreams." He disconnects the call and hopes that she wouldn't dwell too much on the story and that he had cheered her up somewhat from the conversation they both just shared.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Man, it's nasty out there," remarked Sasuke as he retrieved the outdoor chalkboard sign displaying the 'Today's Specials' list from the sudden down pour. He walked over to the bar and grabbed a towel to dry his hair and his damp shirt.

As he sat back on one of the barstools, he couldn't help feeling uneasy about today. Looking out toward the display window's distorted images of the world outside the shop due to the effects of the rainwater made him feel almost apprehensive and anxious. He couldn't explain it but he could sense it.

"Wow, that rain came out of nowhere," said Naruto approaching the bar from the kitchen. "We had a good lunch rush there. Maybe the business will pick up with people sheltering from the rain."

"Yea, I hope so."

"Looky looky, someone got mail!" announced Naruto excitedly as the two watched the express courier finding shelter and parking his bicycle at the front of the store. The courier carried two parcels as he entered the café.

"Naruto Uzumaki here! I'll sign that," said Naruto loudly and confidently as he approached the courier. Naruto looked disappointed as he signed the confirmation receipts and returned to the bar to sit next to Sasuke. "I should have known. It would be for you." He handed over the two items: one thick 10x13 envelope and one light mid-sized box with air-mail postage. Both were addressed to him except the box read as to 'Leader otherwise known as Sasuke.'

Not sure which one to open first, he left Naruto at the bar and decided that he should go up to his room for some privacy.

Thinking that the box was probably going to be the more entertaining one, he ripped opened the mail from his brother first. He was not sure himself about what could be in the envelope; he braced himself as he leafed through the contents.

Inside was an invitation to his brother's upcoming show in France during Fashion Week for the fall presentations. In spring, fall fashions are already being introduced in Europe by the most sought after designers. During this week the fashion shows are just as famous as the parties given celebrated afterwards.

He hadn't attended one since High School and wasn't sure why his brother had sent him a reserved seating invite along with a VIP backstage pass. Back then his brother and his friends were modeling and he was always dragged along when he least expected it. He had to admit to himself that back then he envied their glamorous lifestyle.

After that he comes across another invite, this one was for the after show party at the family's villa. The last time he was there was when his parents were still alive. He sighs and leans back in his wooden woven swivel chair.

The next item was a pocket folder with a round trip first-class airline reservation to Europe, itinerary for Fashion Week, and a list of contacts. He couldn't figure why his brother was being adamant about having him there. Maybe this mail was the anxiety that he had feared all day today.

Lastly was a typed letter with the Uchiha Brand name letterhead emblazoned above the message. It read:

_Dearest little brother,_

_I hope you are faring well as you read this letter. The weather here is quite nice and attractive. You are missed tremendously by yours truly and I would be honored to have you here at our French abode. I am certain that you won't refuse my offer because a little sweet bookworm had cordially accepted my gracious request to stay with me at our vacation home. We have become quite close since we by chance have crossed paths several times in Europe. Please make haste in your preparations or I will purposely offer your room to the lady. I shall be awaiting your arrival and be oh so delighted in welcoming you here._

_With love always,_

_Itachi_

Sasuke folded the contents and shoved it all back into the envelope. He was feeling disturbed that his brother was threatening him with his new found friend. What could possibly be the motives behind this invitation?

He runs his hands through his hair trying to figure out what the hell is going on over there.

Feeling disturbed after reading Itachi's letter, he went back to work and saved the box to read for later tonight. Right now he was trying to figure out how to rid this strange tension building up inside him.

Sasuke wasn't in the mood to please customers or take orders but he insipidly hid his aggravation so that his friend wouldn't notice. Naruto had a way of making even the most insignificant problems deemed disastrous if he noticed.

By evening the place picked up its pace and the pressure to be stoic wasn't that bad by the time Sai and Shikamaru clocked in. Sai found a job recently to illustrate a classic children's book series that needed to be revamped for its tenth anniversary publication. As for Shikamaru, he got promoted at work to Information Technology (IT) department and he had been working over-time since but he also needed an outlet to release his stress so he continues to assist as server.

Eventually the shop closed and after cleaning up the boys gathered for dinner.

"What's for dinner, guys?" hollered Naruto from the small fold out kitchen table in the large kitchen.

"Sorry guys but its curry tonight again. I made too much yesterday so we are having leftovers," apologized Sai. The boys made a deal that everyone had to take turn at cooking every week for dinner.

As all five were sitting at the table eating Naruto asked, "What is everyone doing for Golden Week?"

The national week long holiday was coming up soon and Sasuke wondered if he should use that time to go to Europe as his brother had intended for him. He was wondering if he should discuss the situation with his friends but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be there himself.

Since no one at the table answered him, he announced excitedly, "How about visiting old man Jiraiya?" Jiraiya is Naruto's Godfather, who is a famous novelist. He enjoys traveling and collecting sources of inspiration for his writing.

"Sounds tempting. Where is he now?" asked Shikamaru.

"I think he should be visiting here soon so that's why I wanted to make arrangements for all of us to travel abroad with him on his next excursion."

"Well give him a heads up on your plans and then get with us so that we can make arrangements," offered Chouji.

"A vacation would be nice for all of us," chimed in Sai and all around agreed that a vacation was definitely needed for all present.

After dinner was over and everything was cleaned up, Sasuke went upstairs for a quick shower. By the time he got back in his room, the box had been awaiting him on the bed with Naruto lying beside it and reading the contents of his brother's letter.

"So, that's why you looked menacing today," realized Naruto.

Sasuke slid the towel off his shoulders and snapped it at Naruto's legs. "Stop being a nuisance and let me get some sleep."

Naruto sat up from the attack and grabbed the box. "Then can I have this?" he asked excitedly.

Sasuke had the towel over his head now and was blot drying the ends of his black hair. He sat next to Naruto and said, "I'm kinda too tired to play with you right now so if you could give me and this box some privacy, I would appreciate it. If you don't, I will tell Chouji about the broken Broadway musical CD I found in the trash out back."

Naruto's jaw dropped and he had a finger pointing at Sasuke. Something inside him made him suddenly exit the room without complaint or even a good night wish.

Finally the box that was supposed to be more entertaining than his brother's mail was at last permissible by him to open and indulge. He grabbed an art knife to cut up the thick tape and the outer wrapping. He opened the box and was pleasantly surprised by a picture taped to top of the items stacked in there.

It was a picture of the tranquil shallow water glimmering over large white stones and in the corner was the red book on her lap and her legs submerged mid calf in the water. He could see just a slight shot of the print on her skirt that had yellow flowers over a light blue background. Her legs were just as pale as the rocks she sat on. Her distorted shadow over the water gave dimensions to the soft rippling.

It was a beautiful sight. It was inviting and he could instantly hear the sounds of the water softly crashing against the rocks. His chest could already feel the warm rays and the gentle breezes brushing against his skin and his legs could already feel the cold warmth of the water enveloping them. She had a way of drawing him in even in a photograph that was miles away.

There were several folded letters held together with a white satin ribbon. Each letter was in a different pattern, size and color. They were also numbered on the outside indicating the chronological order for him to read accordingly. He picks up letter number one and lied back down on his bed to continue reading.

This letter was written on the back side of an internet printed article concerning recent news about the UN interfering with issues between several European countries on trade and the plans implemented to resolve the issues. There were highlighted areas and written notes written on the blank marginal areas. He thought maybe she was either researching or was forced to read the news. It was similar to how his brother would be researching the latest news both current and gossip to see where their company stood from a macro and micro view in society. The letter read:

_I snuck away from the watchful eyes of my guardians and escaped to the one place that brings me comfort. While they are trivialized by their current social surroundings, I indulge in my travels to far off places. _

_Let me take you to the place where you once visited before. Imagine the scenery and change your surroundings. Here the people speak differently and dress differently. They are not spoiled by the enhanced technological improvements made in the world so far or know just how vast the world is._

_Our heroine who was saved by the general from the bandits was continuing her original journey to the Imperial Palace to rightfully take her place as the royal robes designer. This time the general and his men accompanies her on her journey along with the captured prisoners shackled and tied marching along side the soldiers._

_They arrive at a village governed by a powerful Lord. The general and young woman are asked to lodge at the Lord's home meanwhile the Lord would be the judge to preside the ruling over the captured prisoners for criminal acts that were deemed offensive against the honor of the King. Within days the King approved the Lord's sentence and judgments on the criminals as public death by decapitation. _

_Posters with the list of criminals, their crimes, and date of their death sentence were posted all over the streets of the village and neighboring villages in hopes of gaining the attention of the remaining bandits and their ringleader. Wanted dead or alive posters of the five were also plastered everywhere with large bounties on each of their heads. An ambush lays await for our five who are currently forming a rescue plan._

_I am about to be caught by my guardian and so the letter ends here._

He reaches for the second letter and it is written on stationery from a hotel she must be staying at in Italy. It reads:

_If I were to brand you with a written message on your back, I think I would write the longitudinal and latitudinal numbers so that you could find me._

The rest are pictures that she drew of the world map and arrows directing to her whereabouts. He laughs at the drawing and searched for number three. This one was written on the backside of a menu from the train trip she was traveling on. She wrote:

_I miss my garden. If you like, you could visit it in my place. Enclosed is my address and you could enter by way of the fire escape._

_P.S. I recommend bringing along something to reach the ladder._

She draws the picture of the garden from a bird's view from above. He notices the effort she put forth so that he could differentiate the different types of flowers with her pencil sketch that had now been slightly blurred by the handling and care of the letter. The next several letters are pictures she drew of all the places she had been at lately and he could find in each picture the hint she drew so that he could figure out her whereabouts.

The next item in the box was a letter and with a letterhead that was boldly written in big font 'LETTER OF CHALLENGE.' It states:

_I noticed your exquisite taste in books and wondered if you would like to breeze through my favorites. You don't have to read them. I just want you to visit the places listed below with an errand. The task is simple. All you have to do is insert a card that I have enclosed intended for each book and the card must be stashed away from view so that the next reader who comes by it doesn't find it until they reach that marked page that you have chosen to hide it. I only made enough for each book so mistakes are uncalled for. If you are to complete this mission I promise within weeks that the patrons visiting your shop will become loyal visitors. If I fail on my side of the promise, I will personally dress in whatever silly costume you deem fit to advertise your shop while handing out flyers of your menu. I made it so that you have the upper hand in this challenge. Good Luck hunting my books. _

Sasuke dug to the bottom of the box and saw the cards. They were about the size of a standard business card and held together by another ribbon. He removed one to inspect it. It had a drawn map that was reminiscent of a stellar astronomy map but the names of the stars were of streets and businesses surrounding his shop. The brightest stars shown on the card are the three connected with the name of his shop, "Orion's Belt." To him it looked like a treasure map and he got excited just looking at the cards and the adventure that he was going to have while running this errand.

He felt guilty that he didn't read her mail earlier but was happy knowing that she thought about him and not as the person who supplies her with books to read.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Don't take Hanabi's words to heart, Hinata," consoled Kiba as he descended the stairs toward his friend sitting on the last step before the eighteenth floor landing. It was quiet and felt claustrophobic being alone with her in the fire escape stairway amidst all the grey dull cement surrounding them.

"I am not a child anymore." She answered softly with her face hidden within her arms and over her knees. "I am offended that you depict me in such a way. I know that Hanabi has to uphold her position in the company and that our lives were destined the day that I chose the paintbrush and she the abacus." She lifts her head and leans her chin on her knees. "I should've known my place when I offered my assistance to her staff. I was at fault."

Kiba lifts his hands up as if innocent of the incident as he leans against the wall still standing a couple of steps above her. "You are too kind to follow the path of the abacus. Unlike Hanabi who is shrewd and calculating, is able to survive in this business. You would never choose the comb for they are too vain and easily wounded by their ego. You definitely fit the paintbrush for the artist always sees what the true colors of the world should be."

"I remember when the items were placed before me in front of a clan's assembly and the surprised look on everyone's face when I chose the paintbrush. I was only six and instantly my life changed. I was instantly sent to be an apprentice to study the fundamentals and history of looming and textile. But I always felt that my path was of a different destiny, none of the three destinies offered: vanity, intelligence, and artistic. Too bad that dreamer couldn't be the fourth choice because then I would definietly have chosen that one," she said dreamily.

Understanding that Hinata felt trapped in her role as heiress to a powerful clan but all he could do was watch her struggling within herself from afar. He reached in his pocket and was thanking Hanabi for also having a sweet tooth.

Suddenly out of no where he screamed, "Ah, spiders!" while jumping about looking frightened of creepy crawly bugs and swatting wildly around him. After what felt like a minute of a work out he finally heard the desired outcome from his act, her chuckling. He smiled smugly as he witnessed a more cheerful Hinata and gave her the contents in his pockets, "Here, take these. They have magical properties that are still mysterious to many so in other words don't eat them all at once."

He slowly walks down the last couple of steps and stands before her to hand her the candies that were in his pockets. "Why don't you take Akamaru for a walk? I think he is feeling a bit cabin fever here at the office. Go for a stroll and take in all the sights. You might find inspiration for your next project." He winked at her and walked away.

He returns to Hanabi's office and sits at her couch to wait for her while she speaks on the phone. By the time she hung up, he was already patting his lap indicating for her to come. She walks over from her from her desk and sits beside him and just gently lays her head on his lap while he undoes her neatly tied tresses held together by a clip. He tenderly runs his fingers through her long hair.

"How is she doing?" she asked suddenly.

"I sent her off with some sweets and Akamaru to go sight seeing."

"Is she still mad at me?"

"Never was."

She instantly turns her body so that she could face him and see why he replied her so. "Won't you ever get tired of watching both of us all the time?" she asked while she reached her hand up to pull his face toward herself.

Before his nose just about touches hers, he declares, "Akamaru prefers the outdoors so watching Hinata is always a treat for him and as for me, I prefer to be your lapdog." In the private space of her office they shared a quick tender moment before another interruption interfered.

Shino's arrival was announced by the secretary and both instantly sat up right to greet their friend. Upon entering, Shino couldn't help feeling that he had just interrupted something but was never good at understanding what it was that he always interrupted.

"Yo!" greeted Kiba. "How was the seminar?"

"It was intriguing. I'm glad that I caught up with some old colleagues from the society here. So, when will we be leaving for France?"

"We should be leaving in two days," answered Hanabi.

"Have you decided whose residence we shall be politely imposing on?" asked Shino.

"I have accepted the Uchihas for during Fashion Week but I was also informed recently that the Sabakus have extended their welcome as well so we shall impose on them before Fashion Week. How does that sound?" informed Hanabi.

"Imposing on the competitors, you are bold," remarked Shino.

"They have been cornering the European market longer than us so I will always be under their tutelage. Now that we are rivals, I would like for us to be on good terms always," explained Hanabi.

"By the way, where is Hinata?" speculated Shino.

"She returned to the manor. I sent Akamaru to escort her," answered Kiba.

"Her German is atrocious, her sense of direction is just as bad as her sense of time, and if she ponders into a book store, she will never," remarked Shino but was interrupted by the couple on the couch. They both continued his statement, "Leave."

They all laughed from the description but somewhere strolling down the road was the same woman who just happened to also sense the same conversation and simultaneously sneezed.

Hinata walked along the busy street and was taking in the beauty of the old architectural buildings that was reconstructed after the wars. She was dressed in an argyle sweater over a buttoned up shirt, a long a-line skirt, boots, a wool cape, and her messenger bag. She was enjoying the fresh air and privacy even though she had to share it with an invincible spirit. The thought that Kiba had a spirit to control on command had always made her romantic of the idea ever since their first encounter. So when Kiba speaks of Akamaru she never shuddered like others around them did but always welcomed the invisible friend.

Due to Hanabi's hectic schedule, they have been hopping about Europe like a hot potato that can't stay too long in one place. She hadn't had time to enjoy her book either. Currently, the story weaves in and out from the heroine, the leader, and an entrance of a new party.

The heroine while at the Lord's dwelling place tries to escape herself but her idea was thwarted upon hearing the news that her family had sent a replacement for her at the royal palace. She was ashamed hearing that she had dishonored her family's name and now they were already trying to correct the damage by replacing her with another. Also during this time, the general had proposed marriage to her explaining that with his title and name; he could erase all the blemishes that eroded her name from her stay with the bandits unsupervised.

The leader was taking advantage of the recent rebellions against the government and rallied the people to join him in freeing the bandits on the date of their execution. During this time he was also investigating on the whereabouts of the robes designer and hoping that he could rescue her along with his people. Seeing that she was kept at the Lord's home as a guest, he would on occasion cunningly visit the place just to catch a glimpse of her face.

The introduction of the new party is the heroine's family spiritualist accompanied by her sister traveling incognito as monks. They left home once news of the heroine never reaching the imperial palace was made known to her family. The family instantly dispatches a substitute and the sister hearing that the heroine was kept hostage ran away from home to rescue her sibling. The sister was caught by the family diviner and he in turns vows to assist her on her journey as long as she obeyed him.

Hinata finally made it to the gates of their German manor and asked Akamaru to return to Kiba's side now that she had returned safely. Hinata returned to her room and threw herself on the bed dressed as is. But something suddenly caught her eye; it was a box sitting on the wooden trunk at the end of her bed. She removes her messenger bag, unzips her boots and unbuttons her cape. Feeling more at home now she averts her attention to the box. It was addressed to 'Kaguya aka the elder Hyuga.'

She opens the box by brute force ripping the clear tapes and wrappings until she reached the contents within. She smiled while reaching for the first item. It was a small key that looked ornate, old and Victorian. The key was fastened by her white ribbon she used in her package for him. It was cute and she wondered if she could wear it as a choker.

The next item was a simple white letter written with a black fountain pen. He wrote:

_To the fair Kaguya-hime,_

_When I was feeling uneasy and thundering could be heard from outside, your mail was a pleasant arrival. You also sent me on a journey that was interesting from the start. From your letters I marked the places with pin cushions on my world map. So you could also feel at ease knowing that I know where you are. You don't have to give me the coordinates or draw me a map. _

_Don't worry I am not spying on you but I do have contacts in Europe who helped me deliver this. So, in a way you are only a call away. I haven't heard your voice lately but I guess receiving your snail mail is just as nice as hearing you speak. _

_I visited your garden and yes it is just as you described it. Your house sitter actually let me in when I was trying to reach your fire escape. No she isn't a terrible person, I just have a way with speaking to women and I showed her your letter. I was impressed with your personal library and couldn't understand why you would send me to hunt down books all over town when you owned them all. _

_Don't get me wrong, the adventure was fun. I traveled the routes you suggested and visited the places you listed. I inserted the cards into the books and got a glimpse of what you do for relaxation. It was similar to a trip I took long ago on a quest for a leaf by recommendation from a girl who attends the all girl High School. Actually now that I think about it, it was you, wasn't it? If it was than I'll be honest, I was using Naruto's screen name on the forums that day. By the way, thanks for the advice my friends and I all aced the project._

_I personally liked the picture, the letters, and drawings. It was a detailed account of your travels and a personal reflection of you. I could envision you at each place doodling on what ever paper that were at hand and pocketing them afterwards. You would then stuff them with your belongings and when you have collected enough mementoes, you would mail them to me by way of saying, "I thought of you today." I could be wrong but I could have sworn it was a heartfelt confession. But then again a girl like you wouldn't bestow such happiness on a hapless fool such as myself for then I would be a fortune's fool._

_How far are you on the book? The story so for probably bores you with its talks about allies, rebellions, and reform. The romance is lost in the politics of the government and its people. The drastic changes made in the country that was once rich in their own culture and values. I like the tension being built to get the audience riled for the upcoming revolt. You are probably wondering if the leader would be capable enough to rescue her along with his people. All I can say is as a fellow reader following at your pace, faith can sometimes move mountains._

_My letter is not as sweet as yours but I have enclosed a gift and I hope it is to your liking. Open it with your new key and may it open up more doors that will take you to many new places._

_The infamous most wanted criminal,_

_Leader of the bandits_

She then dug further inside the box and to her surprise there was a wooden box in the design of the book she was reading. It was bigger than the book but he copied the original in all its proportion. The side of the compartment had a key hole and she slid the key in. Amazingly the adorable key fit in the hole and turned. By the time she heard the click to indicate that it was unlocked, she opened the box eagerly.

Inside the box was the third volume and inserted inside the book were sketched pictures. The pictures were of different French maid designs with black kitty ears and tails. At the bottom of the last picture, he wrote:

_If you were to fail the challenge offered to me, here are the choices of costumes that I would like you to wear. My favorite is number three. I think you would look incredibly cute in the leather crisscross strips leggings. Either outcome, I shall enjoy the results._

She blushed from the pictures and written letter. Lying back down on the bed and staring at the contents again, she couldn't decide if she wanted to call him or go to her computer to design a new pattern. Her inspiration always comes from her most recent read stories.

She reread the letter and she instantly recalled how long ago while attending High School, she was monitoring the gardening club's forum page for her school which is also shared with their brother school. The first year boy had posted a question on her club's forum about how to find a particular leaf. The reason for obtaining the leaf was that the boys had to collect one hundred different leaves of different species. Only five rare leaves could be counted as five instead of one. In other words, finding the five rare leaves would equal twenty five points.

The young man had asked her how to preserve the leaf first. She answered in detail the instructions to preserve the leaf so that it could be showcased in a book for display. Then several days later, he asked her how to go about finding one of the five rare leaves. She had listed the traveling instructions with bus stops, train stations, restaurants and lodging. It was a trip she took often when she felt pressured from work and knew exactly the tree that owned that type of leaf. So, she particularly gave him an insight of her usual weekend trips. She remembered long ago how she had drew the map to the tree from the hot spring lodging and had told the boy to retrieve the map from the book that she was returning to library the next day.

True to his word, he had claimed the map because when she returned the day after, it was gone. She never thought about it again because she was relieved of the monitoring position soon afterwards and never had to monitor it again. Now that he had remembered her, she couldn't believe that they had crossed paths before. Does this mean that they have been intersecting each other even before that?

She finally let the idea fade away and decided to go outside for some fresh air. This time she brought along a camera and sketch pad for some inspirational ideas for her new projects. Just because she was on vacation, didn't mean that she had to be idle.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"One more time, why are we doing this again?" questioned Shikamaru through the ear piece to the other five connected.

"Alright, systems linked. It's all yours Shika," replied Sai as he sneaks down the hallway as intended from earlier when the plans were thrown at the boys.

Shikamaru took the signal to switch security camera videos playing in the surveillance room to a much earlier scene that indicated all areas are undisturbed and to ward off more security units. He was sitting on a bench in a public park with his notebook and looking at the sky's magnificent swirls of lavender and pink and he wished that he didn't have to do this so that he could enjoy the sun setting before him instead.

"Systems are a go," announced Shikamaru unexcitingly.

"Look Shika, we are about to break in one of the largest estates here and you are throwing off my vibe," whispered Naruto and sounding quite annoyed and tired. He was climbing onto one of the many balconies out back the Mughal (Persian) Architecture inspired building.

"Just because he got to punch our mascot one year during that Nationals Basketball Tourney Final doesn't mean that we have to sneak in like thieves," reasoned Chouji while he was standing watch at the front gates. He was also hand feeding what looked like a dozen beautiful Dobermans on the other side of the iron gates.

"Let me remind you that the one adorning the costume that time was Sasuke. We are here to revenge that dastardly deed," coaxed Naruto excitedly.

"Yea well Sasuke did call him a foul mongrel of some sort," interjected Sai. "Do I turn left here or up ahead?"

"Next one," answered Shikamaru with a yawn. "Well Naruto did have a foul called on him for interfering with Gaara's three point throw mid stance."

"With one second left of the game, we lost due to those two free throws made by Gaara," added Chouji who just threw a bit of salt on Naruto's old wounds.

"Ya'll never give a guy any slack," said Naruto sulking now. "Alright, I am about to make it to the upper level library. Where are you Sai?"

"I am about to reach the gallery hall. Shika are you sure you jammed these locks too?" asked Sai.

"Yea, just use that decoder to break in and you should be ok. Speak of the devil, where is Sasuke?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Sorry boys but I am gonna be MIA for awhile, beep me when you're all done," replied Sasuke. Moving a branch to widen his view to his new discovery, he suddenly excused himself. "Something came up on my side," he said as he turned off his earpiece.

He couldn't believe his luck. Here he was about to play the biggest prank on their old friend when he so much as caught a glimpse of his fair maiden. She was painting in the garden dressed in a long sleeved boat neck black shirt and fitted black jeans. Even from the distance where he stood from her, he could recognize the rare leaf he collected long ago. She had captured its vein formation and its unique shape. He recalled suddenly something that the girl from the forum had interestingly pointed out to him, "Your teacher must be a pure romantic because you'll notice that the most fascinating thing about these leaves are that they grow in pairs and eventually fall as a pair."

He knew instantly back then that she must be someone very interesting but after he came home from the trip at the hot springs returning with the leaves, she was no where to be found. Inquiries about the girl kept leading to a dead end no matter which way he went because all the girls he kept in contact with at the school didn't know that there was a gardening club in the first place. After that he decided that he liked to think that he had somehow fulfilled a ghost's last dying wish before ascending the stairs of heaven.

His supposed ghost suddenly halted and looked at the oil painting from a couple feet away. Looking satisfied with the work, she released her hold on her paint tools. She then withdrew her notebook from a bag and sat on the nearest bench. There she took a picture of the leaf with the web cam and started editing the photo. She designed an interweaving pattern with the many different images of the leaves. The designs then became a continuous pattern and she then attempts different colors and tones. By the time she was done, she had saved and emailed the picture and began packing up all the loose objects sitting around the painting. She carried some of the fresh paint materials and packed tools away.

By the time she was out of sight, he walked over to admire the piece. He finally discovered his ghost and he wasn't ready to meet her yet. What could possibly be holding him back? Somehow seeing her before him made him feel content. It was an unexplainable feeling but even though he didn't speak to her, he wanted her to know that he was there.

He soon came up with an idea to play on the girl and hopes that she appreciated the effort at the prank. Sasuke took this opportunity while she is away to steal the freshly painted canvas. He left a note on the easel which stated:

_Beauty provoketh thieves, sooner than gold. _

_Many thanks,_

_The Bandits_

He hauled ass as he ran across the beautiful landscaped fields and when he was near the gates, he turned on his earpiece and was welcomed with loud screams from all four speaking at the same time, "Where the hell are you, Sasuke?"

"Chouji, watch my back," he requested. Sasuke with the wet painting waited behind some tall hedges against the brick wall surrounding the palace until Chouji had distracted the entire group of dogs at the entrance gates to sneak out the departing gates that was operated by Shikamaru from the park.

Later Sasuke and Chouji strolled over to the public park to meet up as planned with the rest of the group.

"What took you so long?" asked Naruto annoyed carrying the MVP plaque that Gaara won long ago for winning the game that the 'Rag Tag Team' lost to. He also had a hint of methyl smell from the sleeping gas on him that made Sasuke step back a bit.

"Sasuke, why did you steal that?" asked Sai while sitting on the bench next to Shikamaru and holding what looked like a framed picture of Gaara and his teammates from that same year they faced-off Konoha.

"Alright, all systems are up and running. I'm hungry let's go eat," stated Shikamaru.

"Wait old man Jiraiya is still staking Gaara at the party," reminded Naruto.

"I'm sure by now he had turned off his earpiece and is currently hooked up with somebody," reassured Chouji. All around nodded in agreement for the old man was a known ladies man.

"Let's go back to the Hotel and stash our stolen goods," recommended Sasuke. They all agreed and walked toward that direction.

"That leaf looks familiar," commented Shikamaru about Sasuke's recent treasure trove.

"Isn't that the same leaf you found for us long ago to turn in?" asked Sai.

"Ah, you're right. How ironic that Sasuke would steal that. It must have brought back memories of the girl from the haunted forum," recalled Chouji.

"The mystery girl from a club that didn't exist and a forum page that we can never upload again," speculated Shika.

"Wow, Sasuke we never took you for being a romantic," chimed in Naruto.

"I never get to answer or explain. You guys are completely off course sometimes," interjected Sasuke.

"Because we are always on the mark," concluded the rest in unison and turning around to face Sasuke.

Sasuke laughed at the four staring back at him and lifted his hands up in defeat to declare another raised flag of pure white.

By the time they returned to the grand hotel, their interesting conversation was cut short and were welcomed by Gaara, his siblings, and Jiraiya sitting inside their large suite.

Gaara spoke up first, "I believe you have some of my possessions and I have come to collect." He smiled wickedly at the guys. He was dressed in a suave white suit and leathered toecap shoes seated at the recliner with his legs crossed while his elder brother, Kankuro, had his arms around the old man on the couch.

Naruto begrudgingly placed the plaque on the coffee table followed by Sai, who placed the framed picture beside it.

"A-hem. And?" said Gaara awaiting for the rest.

Sasuke was just about to walk toward the coffee table with the painting when Gaara interrupted, "Not that." Sasuke stepped back with the painting and Chouji and Shikamaru walked forth unloading from their pockets the remaining stash. Naruto and Sai had also grabbed some souvenirs for Shika and Chouji which were some neck ribbon medals.

Gaara nods his head and says, "I'm impressed, you guys did a bang of job at my home. Next time, just visit me like normal friends ok."

"Man you built some serious tension in this room," hollered Naruto while jumping toward the red head.

"By the way, how did you find us?" asked Shikamaru to Temari sitting on the sofa.

"I was informed of your flight before you landed here and have been keeping track of you on my PDA. I had my men place tracking devices on you at the airport once you arrived," she answered innocently.

Shika sits down next to her deflated and said, "You have been playing me this whole time."

"I hope you don't mind," she answered sweetly and they continued talking to themselves.

Everyone else was excitedly chatting about the recent theft and past Basketball glories. Sasuke walked back to his room to stash his painting. Once inside, Kankuro was knocking at his open door. He waves an envelope and sings, "You have mail." He hands the letter over to him, walks off and closes the door. They might not have been close friends compared to his brother but he was a true gentleman.

He opened the letter and was surprised by the contents. It read:

_Dear Leader,_

_I hope you like my gift. It's not as sweet as your secret compartment book but just as sentimental. I'm glad to hear about your arrival here in France. I hope you don't mind the deception masterminded by the Subakus. They are such friendly people. When they spoke about the pranks that both have played on the other, I laughed just thinking that I would like to be a part of the next one. Instantly, I knew what I wanted you to steal. As a true bandit, you would steal the painting that confirmed my identity from the forum. It was probably like stealing an answer from a puzzling question that had been bothering you for so long._

_To tell you the truth, there was a Gardening Club but it was soon disbanded due to low member enrollment. When I joined the Library Club later, I was asked to monitor the forum for the Gardening section until it was completely deleted. I noticed Naruto's screen name when he had asked me how to preserve the leaf. Days past and suddenly his name appeared again but this time he was different. He was witty and curious. He asked me how to find some rare leaves. Of course, I only knew of one and instructed so. That's when I knew that it might not be Naruto but if it was, I was going to make it worth while for him. Now I am curious if you did follow as I had instructed. _

_I loved your letter though short but sweet. I am embarrassed that you saw my living quarters as such but happy that you visited my beloved flowers. My favorites are the irises and impatiens. One of my impatiens is called 'kiss me on the mountain.' Cute isn't it? You felt that my random letters was like a confession? Well, I will have to remember that next time so I could do it properly since I have the hang of it now. _

_As for the book, (Oh my, the drama – lays hand upon brows and sighs) the new twists and turns of the current events are shocking indeed. Our beloved heroine finally escapes the Lord's home and ventures out onto the unknown with only her family's necklace to be pawned. With little money that she has, she hitches a ride with a traveling performing troupe in search for a new life. Feeling ashamed for hurting her family and not being able to answer the General's feelings, she flees in the dark of the night. The most devastating reason as to why she left the confines of the Lord's home was that she discovered the relationship between the Lord and her lover. It seems that the Lord and the leader are half brothers and both are in line of succession to the King, though it may be further down the list, they are still royalty. _

_That isn't all. Because of her relationship with the Leader, she has been set up as a decoy to capture the Leader on the day of the prisoners' execution. Not knowing entirely what the Lord had planned to do with her lover, she felt guilty and leaves by way of bribing the maids and cooks with her new wardrobes and gifts from the General. _

_Finally on the day before the execution, a large rebellion was organized in the nearby village and military forces from the Lord were sent to pacify the people. But unbeknownst to the approaching soldiers lay a trap of large magnitude. They were captured by bow and arrow threat when they were marching through the village. The leader was hoping to decrease the number of military forces that the Lord had control over. _

_The leader than signaled for the second rebellion in a different village to start that same day and planned to save his men during the diversion. In the second village, lay another trap by a different method waiting for the soldiers. As the five traveled toward the prison house, they were surprised to find that all the prisoners were gone and that they found themselves in a trap themselves. The leader knowing that he was on the losing end decided to forfeit his life to bargain. His head carried the largest bounty and traded his life for the four loyal followers and the pardon of all the villagers involved with the rebellions. Once the negotiations were done, the leader was lulled into a false pretense. All were captured and imprisoned including all the villagers who rebelled. And then ends the second volume with a self loathing leader and our self-pity heroine._

_I think after something that dramatic deserves a nice glass of spirits to clear the mind. How about meeting me tonight at the restaurant down stairs? I'll be wearing an orchid at the bar waiting for you._

_Waiting downstairs,_

_Please hurry!_

Sasuke instantly drops the letter and began hauling ass again toward the door. This time, he wasn't hesitating because the girl had initiated her move not with a passive pawn but with an aggressive bishop which in turn challenged his knight to come forth. Even bypassing all his friends gathered at the door to witness his next move didn't delay him one bit. Even when they were jeering and taunting him in the suite and hallway of the hotel, he wasn't deterred from his route. He was a man on a mission and nothing was going to stop him now.

Not even waiting for the elevators, he dashed down the stairs like a mad man pursued by his delusional visions. The adrenaline flowing through him was like a bottle rocket that had been stored for many years and was finally allowed to be freed and soared loudly as he pleased with a burning passion to blossom among the twinkling stars. He was dressed in a brown t-shirt with white designs over a striped navy and white buttoned up shirt matched with one of his more rugged dark jeans and large buckled belt. Thanking the heavens that he actually wore his rugged leathered oxford sneakers today because he wouldn't last long in a different pair.

Once he saw the number indicating the desired floor, he quickened his pace and flew through the doors, busy lobby and long halls until he reached his destination. Once he made it to the opened doors, his body practically screamed 'Bloody Hell' from the instant muscle pain from lack of exercise and sufficient amounts of air finally filtering through his body. Annoyed that his body wasn't catching up to his intended purpose, he was slowly starting to feel a bit anxious. What could possibly be making him feel like this? She was just a girl. A female like any other female who he never felt nervous about but he couldn't understand the sudden bashfulness coming on all of a sudden. He suddenly wanted to turn around and walk back up stairs.

"Knight. I am a charging knight," he said forcefully by means of pushing his confidence to enter the establishment and ending the strange stares directed at him currently. He then takes his first step forward but was halted by a small tug from his back. Welcoming the distraction, he turned around and was faced by his opponent looking straight into his eyes.

"Are you ok?" she asked kindly while searching for something in her bag. She finally pulls out a handkerchief and starts dabbing it on his face. "You are feverish and sweating." He was completely upset with himself that he was acting very uncool and not like his usual stoic masculine self. What is it that this girl before him has that completely disrupts his way of life?

She suddenly held onto his hand and led him out the grand hotel. She was still dressed in the same outfit as earlier with an addition of a short jacket with short sleeves; a small white orchid pinned on her crocheted beanie hat and a messenger bag. They walked slowly and in silent for awhile looking at the night life of Paris. The huge buildings and architectural wonders amidst the lights of the city could all be seen anywhere from where they stood and it was the perfect scenery to enchant the two's anticipated meeting.

It had been exactly one month, two weeks, and what ever the time zone calculation he was working out in his head was all down the drain when she finally spoke, "Feeling better now?"

"I've had better."

She smiled and said, "I guess we all have our days."

Finally feeling up to being himself again he encouraged her with, "Wanna check out the bookstores?"

Still holding hands, he led her this time and they went in search of a book store together.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"So, you like cats?" asked Hinata loudly while browsing the many book shelves with her hands brushing the multitude of timeless hardback titles as she strolled along in the huge private library of the Uchiha French villa.

Sasuke was sitting on a red velvet parlor chair skimming the pages of one of their new purchases they had made earlier during their excursion of scouring the nearby bookstores for new treasures. He looked up from his book and answered when he finally spotted the girl, "My brother has two interesting cats and they influenced my partiality toward them, I guess. Why, are you anticipating on adorning one of my felinely French maid designs?" He showcased one of his more devilish smiles and wonders where this conversation was going.

"Oh, I was just admiring the painting of you and your brother holding the cats," she said innocently while pointing at the painting located behind him over the carved marble rococo inspired fireplace. Sasuke turned around and was suddenly faced by his youthful self smiling back at him. He was sitting in a field with his back against Itachi's back and both were holding onto a cat. They both looked very happy as little boys in summer outdoor play suits.

His mother had painted it long ago a year before her tragic death and it suddenly bought forth memories of his mother coaxing the two brothers to sit still while she captured the two smiling on canvas. She was an artist that always had to find ways to express her creativity by any means through artistic mediums. She was talented in painting, sketching, ceramics, and especially fashion design. She practically did most of the designing while their father did the grunt work on the legalities and formalities of the family business.

She was graceful and elegant with her long flowing black hair. Petite but always looked tall in stature from the way she presented herself. But he always thought that when she wore a traditional kimono, she exuded exemplary transcendent beauty. She may have looked stylish and sophisticated to others but she was always playful and mischievous when it came to him and his brother. She juggled career and family and never let neither fall. He was always proud of his mother but loved that she was able to be her true self in the privacy of her family.

The most memorable fact about his mother was that she was a true Jane Austen fanatic. She lived for the fictions of the romance and period kinds and even dabbled in writing short pieces in her not so often spare time. Almost all the books that he and his brother owned are from her collections. Because of her love for books, his parents traveled frequently and owned many foreign properties.

Their father, who was the heir to the Uchiha fashion empire, married their mother who was the daughter of the heir to the most famous kabuki clan in Asia. The union was advantageous to both but no one knew that their father was instantly smitten with their mother when she attempted running away from a okonomiyaki stand vendor for not having any cash and accidentally spilled the vendor's stand and contents on his father's new white sportcar. That story was told to the brothers according to their father many times but their mother always insisted that she pushed the cart toward their father to get the business man's attention. To this day, Sasuke still doesn't know who to believe but the image of his father falling for the prankster has always tickled his fancies.

"I love this story," she excitedly proclaimed as she pulled down a book from the shelf. She dusted the beige colored fabric book with gold fonts and gold foil leaf edgings. She walks over to velvet chaise longue and lied down on her back to enjoy inspecting the old book better.

Sasuke dropped the book he was skimming through and walked over to the girl on the chaise. He sat down carefully to not catch her hair and position himself against the armrest and back. Once he was comfortable, he grabbed the book from her hands and asked, "Can you read Russian?"

"I was guessing the intentional translation to the original prose."

"My mother was fluent in many different languages but I never could be as lingual as her. I remember my mom telling me about this story long ago," he recalled and flipping through the foreign translated tale.

"Was it the PG-rated version or the X-rated version?" she asked as she sat up to face him.

"Naughty, naughty," he said smiling wickedly and impressed that she braved through the gut-wrenching tragic X-rated version. "You wanna hear my mom's version?"

She lied back down but this time she reclined her head on his lap as an indication to please continue.

He retold to her the tale of the curious fox demon or spirit that was able to transform into a human form and enabling it to blend in between the human world and the spirit world. The fox was summoned one day by a diviner through the scent of magical incense and the bribery of food. The diviner was interrogating the fox while feeding her an assortment of aromatic delicacies on the whereabouts of his beloved. His one-sided love long ago left home to run away with a village peasant after she was promised by her parents to be wed with the rich and famous local spiritualist, himself.

He then produced an artwork with his beloved's image to the interrogated fox spirit to further the investigation. But the fox never met such a beauty and replied honestly that the closest person who could possibly resemble her eyes was a roaming prostitute whom she came across at a nearby village. The prostitute was selling herself for food on the public street one night that the fox happened to travel through.

Curiously, the spiritualist who has been mourning and searching for his beloved fiancé felt hurt about the possibility of the identity and requested the fox to transform into the exact image of the portrait of his missing fiancé. The female fox sensing the sincere sadness through the diviner's eyes obliged and transformed into the lovely depiction of the runaway girl scantily dressed indecently in a lovely white robe and hair flowing down her curvaceous body. The fox was surprised by the sudden reaction of the man because he was already embracing her as if she was his beloved. Feeling caught up in the passionate act, the fox eventually gave in to the human spiritualist.

The fox awoke alone the next morning in her fox form but was shielded by the man's outer traveling garment. The man and all his belongings were gone. Feeling lonely and different since the encounter, the fox went in search for the man.

The diviner eventually catches up to the prostitute but the girl had become absent of mind and the only resemblance left of his past love was her eyes. Trying to solve the mystery as to how she came about becoming this empty container without a soul, the spiritualist goes in search for the peasant whom she originally ran away with. By the time the diviner finds the man, who had seduced his lover, he discovers that the runaway man had been possessed by an evil spirit.

He performs an exorcism which allowed the demon to free the peasant and runs in pursuit of the demon. While running after the evil spirit, he prepares his bow and exorcism arrow. When he finally released an arrow, the evil demon had also attacked with a projectile ball of fire produced from its mouth. The arrow slices through the spirit, landing itself on a tree and captures the spirit within the arrow to be forever locked away in the tree. The ball of fire that was launched by the spirit before being locked up came spiraling at the diviner who was suddenly shielded by the spirit fox wearing his robe. The fox was severely wounded and the man carried the hurt fox back to his lodgings.

The spiritualist also gave permission to the prostitute and the newly spirit-free village peasant to live a life as they pleased together. But their happiness was short lived because of her guilt from being a prostitute and anger from being jilted by his once possessed self, ate at her and so she committed suicide by setting fire to herself and her sleeping lover inside the hut that the diviner had given to them as a parting gift.

The diviner healed the wounds of the fox and feeling indebted to the fox, promised to stay with her forever. Once the fox was completely healed, the spirit fox ran away because she didn't want him to feel indebted to her. She would rather that he loved her instead and not a replacement for his past love. So, the story ends with the spiritualist that is able to see spirits goes in search of the fox demon with the same exotic portrait but this one had fox ears and a fox tail added on.

By the time Sasuke was done retelling the fabled tale of the spirit fox, he found Hinata sleeping peacefully on his lap. He was contemplating between carrying her to his old room or lying alongside her on the chaise but he was soon interrupted by snickering sounds behind a book shelf wall. He then called out calmly, "What do you want?"

The book shelf suddenly moved like a revolving door and in walked in his brother and his friends. They were all dressed each in different solid colored velvet smoking robes with black silk trim over silk pajamas and matching neckerchief. The only thing missing was smoking pipes to complete the image, thought Sasuke.

"We thought that you might need some help carrying sleeping beauty to your bedroom chambers," offered his older brother Itachi as he sat down on the same chair that Sasuke sat before while the other four dispersed about the library.

"Your assistance is of no use to me at the moment but I thank you for the offer," he replied coolly as to not awaken the girl on his lap.

"You don't like my gift?" asked Itachi smiling a more sinister smile compared to the cheerful smile displayed on the portrait directly above him against the wall above the fireplace.

Not feeling up to amusing his brother he answered dryly, "Can we just call it a night, please."

Looking surprised his brother replied, "If you weren't so entertained by your guest, you would have noticed that we are about to have breakfast soon with the second lady Hyuga and her party. I have also invited the Sabakus and your so called 'rag tag team' of friends to join us on the veranda for a light breakfast and wine. I do recommend that you join us and quickly transport your lovely companion to a safer place from curious eyes. I have also explained to the two parties of your whereabouts last night in which you were escorting an associate in a friendly foreign book hunting excursions so do play along."

Sasuke looked puzzled as to why his brother would explain it like that.

"You see, I don't want to get their hopes up if either party wasn't ready to walk down the aisle," explained Itachi.

"No one has spoke of marriage," he interjected.

"No, but you two were supposed to meet for a marriage interview if I recall correctly," answered his brother.

Sasuke had completely forgotten about the ironic no-show mischance interview. If he was in need of a wife and she a husband, then they would have answered the other's problem. What he didn't like was that he had finally met an interesting person but why complicate it with marriage? He didn't like the uneasy feeling suddenly pouring down on him. He finally enjoyed someone's company and suddenly he was making life choices from their chance meeting. 'What the hell!' he thought.

Sasuke kept looking at the portrait above the fireplace of the two happy brothers playing on the green grass with their pet cats and thinking that it was much easier back then even under his parent's watchful eyes. Now as an adult and without his parent's presence, he had to endure their will. He may not understand what it is that compels him toward the girl on his lap but he knew that the idea of marriage was not along those lines.

Itachi probably sensing Sasuke's sudden uneasiness finally concluded, "Or you and the young lady can just be excused from this morning's meal and I will explain that you two were lost in a good book.

For once, he was thankful toward his brother. He gratefully replied, "Thanks."

"You welcome. I'll have someone deliver your belongings afterwards," offered Itachi as he points at the bags of books on the floor. "Sweet dreams!"

Sasuke gently maneuvered himself from sitting beneath her head to positioning his arms underneath her body in one swift motion without disturbing her slumber. He carried her up and walked toward the double doors and was assisted by Pein and Kisame holding the doors for him. He nodded at them in appreciation and both only smiled back at the younger Uchiha.

Sasori as always spoke first, "Why mention that fearful word 'marriage' to your precious little brother whom you love to pamper so much?"

"I may have set the trap but this time the lure is perfect," answered Itachi while the five exited through the revolving bookcase through the wall. The other side was the parlor room that their father had once loved to lounge in the past to be near their mother.

Deidara quickly walks over to the bar and began pouring some champagne for the five and as he placed the filled flutes on the counter, he asked, "Then why invite others here when they can spend some alone time together?"

Itachi looked pensive for a bit and then answered, "It's either 'rivalry hastens the chase' or 'a large range of colors usually muddles the artist's decision.' In other words, I just wanted to add a bit of flavor to sweeten the deal."

Pein sitting on the leathered couch with one of the cats on his lap whispered playfully to the purring cat, "Meddlesome." The one word pretty much triggered the other four to grin suddenly.

As the five continued to discuss about Itachi's brotherly love, Sasuke finally made it to his old room. Upon opening the door, he was surprised by the fact that the room looked the same as the last time he was there long ago. The wooden ships he built with Itachi during their time here in the past were hung from the ceiling and his telescope was sitting at the same place he last used it near the sliding glass door to the balcony.

He gently laid her on his old bed and tucked her in the heavy coverlet and sheets. He had to sit on the edge just so he could position her in the middle. Just as he was done, her eyes opened suddenly as if she was pretending the entire time and grabbed his arm. She spoke earnestly, "I love your mom's version better than all the others that I have come across."

Sasuke smiled as he cupped her hand that was on his arm and said, "Yea, she had a way of amazing me all the time." Once again, the girl had snoozed off before he finished, "even now." His body finally feeling the exhaustion coming on also fell asleep while sitting on the bed and holding onto her hand. As he slept, he had a strange dream of a little girl in a field of red flowers.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, are you awake?" yelled Gaara.

Sasuke awoke to someone licking his face and its tongue hurt as hell brushing against his chin. He picked up the furry creature making biscuits on his shirt collar while licking his morning fuzz that grew over night. As he sat up with the cat cradled in his arms and purring, he noticed that his room was filled with his four close friends plus the sand brothers dressed in debonair-esque suits surrounding him on the bed with maybe a couple of inches for personal space available for himself. He also noticed the absence of one female that shared his bedchamber last night.

"So what did ya do last night with my girl?" asked a cheeky Naruto.

"Good books don't last all night," speculated Shika.

"If you had plans you should have told us beforehand before we came here trying to save your ass from your brother's clutches," nagged Chouji in a parental tone.

"Rushing to meet his fair maiden upon the desired destination?" coined in Kankuro. The other five surrounding Sasuke suddenly pondered a bit until all, as if connected through tiny waves of telepathy, suddenly declared unanimously, "A French Affair."

"Sasuke I never deemed thee to be a girlfriend stealer," accused Sai audaciously.

"The course of true love never did run smooth," stated Gaara as he smiled back.

With that last statement, Sasuke completely was in an utter state of confusion from his friends' absurd comments with just a hint of withheld sleep to delay his thinking processes. The only word that finally fell from his lips was, "Huh," as he stared back at the seven pairs of eyes looking back at him which also included the cat.

Naruto patted Sasuke roughly on the head and then shoved a toothbrush with a dash of mint flavored paste in Sasuke's mouth brusquely. Sai then threw a face towel at Sasuke while Chouji held a bowl of warm water near Sasuke's chest.

Shikamaru while looking at his watch announced "We have six minutes until the game starts." Shika then handed Sai the shaving instrument and cream he found in the bathroom earlier.

Gaara and Kankuro were rummaging through Sasuke's closet that must have been recently filled by Itachi himself. Gaara inquisitively asked, "What's today's flavor?"

"Well it all dwindles down to either the sailor look with navy blazer and white pants or the equestrian hunt seat attire with black coat and tan breeches," offered Kankuro.

All four answered except for Sasuke and the cat, "Rider."

"Alright," replied Kankuro as he threw the garments on the bed near Sasuke's feet.

Gaara grabbed the boots, gloves, handkerchief and tie. He threw them on the bed alongside the outfit.

"Four more minutes," continued Shikamaru counting down the time as he hands Chouji the hair brush.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Sasuke as he cleaned off the remaining shaving cream on his face and started brushing his hair. The cat had already ran off and all the guys were now standing on the balcony talking amongst themselves which completely irked Sasuke's nerves for suddenly ignoring him. He quickly dressed in the outfit and didn't even tuck in the shirt or tied the tie. He shoved the hanky and gloves in the coat pocket. Found the socks and started on the boots.

When he was done, he walked over to the boys and was surprised to see the vast field behind the villa was completely crammed with multitudes of people in Sunday best attires sipping champagne and standing about. Almost all the woman were in elegant party sun dresses and men were dressed in suits, the only ones that were standing out at the moment were Itachi, his entourage, and himself dressed in riding attire; for the exception of Sasuke in a black coat while theirs were red and carrying around a cane and top hat.

In the back corner were blindfolded women being led into individual numbered cylinder tents with a line of women awaiting their turn. In the line of women stood his book hunting friend who was the only one he noticed dressed in long shorts. She had on a white blazer with blue trim and navy wide leg capri slacks. She also had her leathered messenger slung off her shoulder diagonally. To top it off, she adorned a white beret and silk scarf fashioned around her neck.

Their eyes must have met because she suddenly waved at him but the other boys on the balcony had already welcomed her first before Sasuke could return the greeting. By the time Sasuke waved back, the line of awaiting women were all welcoming his greeting which instantly made Sasuke retreat back into his room.

As the boys left the room and descended the stairs, Sasuke requested to all, "What ever the game is, back me up."

"What? You don't wanna compete fair with us?" asked Naruto cunningly.

"You do know that we enjoy a good game especially when the prize is oh so sweet," said Sai as he winked at Sasuke.

"Wouldn't it be better to lose to one of us instead," offered Gaara joining in on the fun.

Before they approached the marbled arched entryway to the garden, the guys were changing the frequency channel on their ear pieces and then began camouflaging the device as cuff links. Once done, they all nodded to each other and continued walking out onto the open garden.

Once outside, they joined the crowds awaiting the announcement of the game and rules.

Right on time, Itachi stood on a raised platform with his entourage and announced through the microphone, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the annual 'Uchiha Hunt' hosted by yours truly." He bowed down with a flare and continued as the crowd cheered, "This year, the obstacle course is quite simple. To commemorate my brother's attendance this year, I thought that I would incorporate our old playground into the game. In other words, my mother's hedge maze will be the setting for this year's hunt."

"All participating bachelors are to line up here and pull a number from the top hat. The number will indicate which entryway to enter. There are a total of twelve entrances into the maze and once you have reached the destination to the center of the maze, there you will have accomplished your halfway mark. The center of the maze stands a wooden chest of drawers. Inside each drawer lies a token donated by a participating bachelorette. Once you have retrieved the token, underneath the drawer is the number to which path to exit. That exact same number will also be the number to the destined tent which awaits your prize."

"The prize will then award the winner with a kiss and permission to escort the fair lady to the ball tonight at my humble abode. The first couple to be united will be the honored King and Queen of the Ball and the other 11 couples will be part of royal court. But I am sorry to announce that all communication devices shall be confiscated before grabbing a number from the top hat. I believe that also includes ear pieces, cuff links, and GPS devices."

"Because there are only twelve entrances, they are also the only twelve exits so the first twelve to exit with tokens are the winners. The officiators to this game shall be Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, Pien, and I. Kisame will be guarding the north side, Sasori; the south side, Deidara; the west side, I shall guard the east side and Pein will be in the center guarding the chest of drawers. We shall punish any cheaters harshly. Cheating will be comprised of climbing the hedges, using electronic devices, and hurting your opponents. Therefore, any other fair methods are allowed. Let me remind you that this is a friendly game."

Naruto smugly announced loudly for all to hear, "Let's rock this maze!" Everyone in the gathered crowd laughed to his response.

"Gentlemen please line up to determine your destined path. As conclusion before the gunshot announces the start, I would like to extend my wishes of Good Luck to all participates," offered Itachi as he smiled at Sasuke and his friends standing in the crowds.

The guys mumbled to themselves about their cufflinks as they got in line. Sasuke wasn't listening to them but was figuring out how many he had to compete against. He had a feeling that seeing Kiba and Shino standing in line also meant that Hanabi was one of the twelve women in the tents. So that meant he would have to beat Shino. He slowly eliminated Shikamaru because he assumed that Temari would be in this game too or else Shika wouldn't be participating. So there were Shino, Chouji, Naruto, Sai, Gaara, and Kankuro in the group of guys that he knew. As for the rest, it looked like sixty or more in the mix. So there were about seventy-ish amount of men to twelve women and divided up to an estimated ratio of six men to one woman.

After doing the math, Sasuke figured that each gate would have about six guys entering at the same path. Somehow without injuring them, he would have to use other methods to win this race. Luckily, he played this maze before. The only bad thing was that he hadn't played it since he was a child. 'Memory, don't fail me now," reassured Sasuke to himself as he approached the hat and fished a folded paper. He walked away and opened the paper, it read, "E5" which must have meant 'East side, gate no. 5.' He was so focused on the facts of the game that he didn't notice the other's dispersing about the fields toward the maze located all the way toward the back woods of old oak trees.

He remembered when he was younger his mother had designed the maze. It had intricate narrow labyrinth pathways. From the outside, the maze was in a shape of a perfect square but the pathways were curvy and swirling inside the square. His mother called it her piece of art that will grow through the ages. Luckily Itachi fell in love with Paris' Fashion Week and continued caring for the maze annually. As he walked closer to the maze toward his gate, something from his past suddenly crept up on him about himself which caused his mother to have changes made to the maze. The patchy memory was something about a crying Sasuke getting lost in the maze when it was only two feet tall and climbing over them. What were the changes?

Sasuke looked around and was amazed that there were no familiar faces waiting at the east gates of the maze. After all that calculating, he felt that something was fishy about this game so far. Counting the heads present minus his brother and himself, the total number on the east side was twenty eight heads. Itachi's annual hunting games and parties were always a smash hit in the high society news and highlights. The guests consisted of everyone or anyone in the fashion and multi-media industries. Suddenly one of them approached Itachi and inquired, "Wouldn't it be unfair if your brother had already had a run through it in the past?"

Itachi smiled like always and answered, "Is it fear I smell or jealously clouding your mind?" He was sitting on an elaborate throne like furniture with his legs crossed while attendants were fanning him and offering food and drinks. He yawned suddenly while staring back at the person. That action alone caused the young man who had approached him to timidly step back. Itachi finally spoke up to the crowd before him, "Since someone had voiced their opinion about the unfairness of my little brother joining in our soirée, than how about I offer my brother to wait five minutes after the game starts to enter the maze."

"Itachi," defended Sasuke as he completely felt a sudden rage building up inside him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," said his older brother while waving his index finger on his lap. "I believe patience is a virtue."

Sasuke at this point was enraged at the outcome from that conversation and didn't want it to completely drag him down so he started counting the heads of his opponents again just so he could calm down.

Within minutes, Itachi received news from the other three confirming that the preparations on their sides were completed. Itachi then stands up to make sure everyone was lined up according to the right entrance and to have Sasuke stand far away in the back of the lines to ensure that he was actually going to be held back for those five minutes.

Once Itachi had started the "On your mark, get set," he then triggered the starting gun toward the air. Sasuke losing all hope of winning was staring at the green house filled with his mother's favorite flowers. He curiously walked over to it and saw rolls of different colors lining the isles of the shelves and grounds. It reminded him of someone else's garden and he instantly remembered what it was that his mother had constructed after he cried that one time being lost in the maze long ago. So that she wouldn't have to climb over the hedges to get to him, she had reinstated the closed tunnels that were once used by the servants to travel through from their dwellings to the castle that was once resurrected here.

From afar, Itachi was walking toward him and said aloud, "I had said that there were twelve entryways and the random number drawn would indicate which entrance to enter."

Sasuke looked up at the name of the glass green house and understood suddenly what his brother was insinuating. The large plaque read: 'Five Fables of East Gables.' His mother had named the place after her favorite red head from Prince Edward Island. He opened the door and went straight toward his mother's trap door. It was underneath a tray of newly bloomed white irises. He pushed them aside and opened the trap door. Before jumping in, he looked at his brother who was already walking back to the maze, picked a flower as a good luck charm, and grabbed the lantern that was sitting nearby. He ran through the dirty dark damp tunnel and was trying to remember the path but he soon realized that there were signs on the walls of the tunnels directing his way.

"Damn you, Itachi," he said aloud. He hated his brother at the moment for manipulating him the entire time, hyping the game up for competition and then having rigged the whole affair as a possible joke. He wasn't feeling grateful at all.

He ran toward the opened trap door, blew out the lantern and was assisted by Pein pulling Sasuke up toward the bright lights of the sun. Pein closed the door and pushed the mobile chest of drawers over the door. He then showcased the drawers to Sasuke. Just as Sasuke was about to open one of the drawers, Kiba had made it to the scene.

Kiba looked at Sasuke as he caught up to him and insinuated, "Trap door? Cool." Sasuke smiled back at him and they began to search for their tokens. Kiba grabbed his drawer without guessing and was already looking underneath the drawer. Kiba smiled at him this time and points at the last one on far right and said, "I think this is the one you are looking for. Later, I gotta run." Kiba left Sasuke in a more confused state.

Sasuke was surprised that inside the drawer that Kiba had pointed at contained the key, he gave her recently. As Sasuke was looking underneath the drawer, there was a tap on his back. He turned around and was met by Shika who pointed at Kiba from a distance. Kiba yelled back, "When you get to the tent, think 'Hansel and Gretel." He turned around and continued his path.

Sasuke looked at Shikamaru and said, "I believe this one is yours." He then points at the middle top drawer. Shikamaru pulled that drawer out and was surprised to see Temari's PDA cell phone inside. He was about to thank Sasuke but Sasuke had already ran off toward his exit.

Sasuke had pocketed the key and paper indicating the exit. He returned the drawer and ran off before Shikamaru noticed. He felt bad for leaving Shikamaru there but he had to exit out of there through the exit that he might have to face off against competitors rushing in toward the center of the maze.

True to his thoughts he ran into Naruto and Chouji. Naruto sang an acronym to Sasuke and Chouji figuring out that Sasuke was exiting encouraged, "See ya outside." Sasuke followed the acronym backward and was amazed that Naruto was for once good for something. He soon passed up about three more guys asking for directions and he graciously instructed them so. He passed his small white sheet of paper to Sasori that read, 'S9.' Sasori checks his clip board and allowed Sasuke the permission to run toward the tent numbered 9.

On his way toward the cylinder shaped tents and tent door flaps were swaying in the wind, he saw Kiba entering one while Shikamaru was already running toward another. The crowds were roaring like mad in the distance near the villa so he assumed that the King and Queen tonight shall be the younger Hyuga and her fiancé. That made Sasuke wished that he had a spirit to assist him instead of a sneaky brother.

Upon reaching his tent, he cleared his throat and announced, "Excuse the intrusion." When he entered the small tent, it was surprisingly empty. Inside stood a table with two chairs but the table contents was gone. No girl, no food, and no drinks. He suddenly remembered what Kiba said earlier about 'Hanzel and Gretel."

With the newly processed information, he started looking for anything associated to the old tale of the two lost kids in the clutches of an evil witch. Just as he was about to give up, there on the ground was a broken piece of cranberry scones that suddenly looked glimmering from the sudden sun light filtering through the door flap. He smiled in defeat to the discovery of the pastry and went in search for more as he lifts the back side of the tent.

Outside the tent led to a trail of more crumbs of scones toward the forest of oak. It had been awhile since he explored the area. His brother used to spook him about ghost stories and evil creatures dwelling about in the dark. He shuddered just remembering some of the scary tales but those were entertaining days as he looked back on those memories.

Walking further into the forest he then entered a small clearing with an old oak tree limb branch that had trouble carrying its weight and eventually through the years grew alongside and just slightly above the ground. The scones crumbs ends at the tree and upon the limb was his prize lying on the tablecloth from the tent. Her messenger bag further down the branch was served as a tray holding her drink and snacks. He climbed the tree and sat at the angle base of the limb to lean his back against the trunk and straddling his leg on the sides of the limb. From where he sat, he had a good view of her derrière and her leathered boots.

He finally spoke, "So you wear a size six in shoes?"

She doesn't look back or seemed surprise of his presence. She suddenly replied dully while still looking at the book she was reading, "It took you long enough to get here."

"Are you sulking because of the book?" he asked gently and exhausted from all the running.

She sat up suddenly toward him and looked upset, "I read this for the second time now and I can't seem to understand the author's intention of love in here." Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes and Sasuke not wanting to see that pained look on her face quickly grabbed the nearest arm closest to him and in one swift motion had her cradled within his arms. She didn't fight back or refused his sincere effort to comfort her.

After a few sobs she fisted her hands and began hitting his chest. She whimpered against his chest, "You said that my faith could move mountains."

He tightened his hold on her and he reasoned, "Would you rather that he left his people to follow her?"

She sat up to face him and answered sadly, "I would rather that she stood by her man."

He wiped the tears trailing down her cheeks with his handkerchief and asked, "Would you rather she become the bait and possible bargaining chip that may have hindered his decisions between saving a larger populace or compared to saving one girl?"

She shakes her head as if not sure how to answer that and looked more pitiful with more tears appearing.

"Come back here and I will retell the story in way that will be less painful for you to accept." She returned to within his warm and welcoming embrace and quieted down as he retold the ending of the story.

The last volume was short and the book was only half way filled with written words. Compared to the others that were filled with adventure, romance and fun, it was instead sad and morbid.

Sasuke continued the story with the captured prisoners in the hands of the lord. The Lord on occasion during their incarceration would visit his brother to discuss political and social matters. They both had different views about everything but eventually always understands why the other came to that point of view in the end.

The traveling monks in disguise finally made it to the same village but were halted in their travels when they discovered the necklace at the pawn shop. They then snuck into the prison to find the leader one night and interrogated him and his men in the prison cells of the maiden's whereabouts. The monks explained to the leader of the maiden's identity and asked if there was any information that could lead them to the girl.

The leader had no idea of where she could be for he was at the moment at a loss himself. The prisoners then told the monks of their situation and recounted the days spent with the maiden. The monks in disguise repaid their debt of information by freeing all the prisoners under the condition that the leader must have full responsibility for the people there. The leader agreed and led the imprisoned away in the dark of night with the monks distracting the guards.

Years later, the leader returned to that village with armed forces and defeated the Lord. Before the Lord's public decapitation, the Lord explained to the Leader that he had always known that his younger half brother was the one capable of leading others and that hopefully by his death it would be able to strengthen that bond of loyalty between his younger brother and the people. True to his wishes, the brother led more uprisings and wage wars against the imperial government.

He fought and led for many more years until the government changed for the people's favor and the country's lifestyle was forced to move toward a more European and western lifestyle. He soon was appointed a lord himself and appointed a city to be in governed over. He hated the daily work of a Lord and wondered how it was that his older brother was capable of handling the job so well.

Then one day he attended a play by a traveling acting group performing in his city. The troupe was performing the sad story of the ghost who had cursed his human lover. When the Lord saw the stitched written characters on the back of the garments of the actress that didn't display the ghost's name but rather it read 'I see you' instead. That message was more alarming and spooky to read this time than the time he had heard it differently from the maiden. This play used his written words rather than the original story.

After the show, he requested an audience with the performers and wished to reward them with monetary means. The troupe's manager came with the actors to the Lord's home for dinner the next night. The Lord inquired of the playwright and the performers answered that a young maiden who once traveled with them had designed and sewn all the stage clothes and contributed to the writing of some of their most popular plays. As for her whereabouts, the troupe had no idea for she had vanished to one night with no word or clue to her disappearance.

With that sudden information, the Lord within the next couple of months performed his public disappearing act. His first task was to recruit his four loyal friends and travel toward the maiden's family's home. There, he was disappointed to discover that the girl never returned home but that the family's spiritualist may have some information to the girl. The matriarch of the family who had instructed him so looked very similar to a monk he once met long ago but the Lord decided it was best to keep quiet. He traveled up the mountain of the diviner and instantly recognized the traveling monk from long ago who had aided in his escape.

The diviner had no clues either of the girl but remembered long ago that the Lord's servants spoke about a general that was in love with her. The Lord then questioned about the monk's companion and was informed that the monk was actually the younger sister of the maiden and now the ruler of that clan. The spiritualist from above the mountains had vowed to protect that clan from any harm.

The five traveled again this time in search of the general's whereabouts. To their dismay, they found that he had died long ago in a war against the leader. Meeting multiple dead ends only caused the once appointed Lord more grief.

Many years past and the Lord had changed his name and had been designing outrageous clothes for the women working in the brothels. He lived the rest of his life filled with pleasure and dwindled away in the red light district while his friends grew further apart from the once well respected leader. Until one day, an old woman left a note on his front door. When he came upon it, it read: "I see you" and underneath it was her signed name. The old man ran down the street in search of her but due to his failing heart, it had no more will power to pump anymore. It was as if his last wish had been finally granted which was to know if she forgave him.

The maiden since her disappearing act from the troupe, was actually aided by the traveling disguised monks. She lived a quiet life in a small hut designing patterns for her younger sister and residing on the same mountain as the diviner's temple. She finally got to see her lover when he came to question the spiritualist but noticed the rich garments that he wore. She believed that from that speculation alone was enough reason to hide from him. Somehow she believed that his heart had changed even towards her.

She actually visited him many times by watching him sometimes sketching in the park or lazing in the sun on the grass. She even attended his wedding to a famous girl from the brothels and from afar wished him many blessings. When she finally had the confidence to write to him, she had also passed away from delivering that message due to a stroke. The message carried her love toward him. She was carried away by his servants and eventually the two dead corpses finally had made contact with one another at the morgue. They were eventually buried alongside each other on the outskirts of the village with no names to mark their existence.

She began to cry again but this time she was wailing pitifully on his white shirt and black coat. He patted her back and comforted her with, "There, there."

They then sat in silence on the branch and eventually fell asleep within each other's comforting embrace and mellowed out from the depressing and sad tale of love even surpassing past death.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

She peeked out from the slight crack of her opened room door and checked the hallway for any possible witnesses. Seeing that the hallway was momentarily clear, she darted across the hall toward a door and immediately started knocking.

Dressed in a French high empire, low cleavage, white embroidered muslin and white silk, made her felt almost naked in the Napoleon Period inspired piece from all its sheerness and weightlessness. Though elegant and flowing, it was somewhat too revealing by how it clung to the body when mobile and under certain extreme lighting could cause a possible peep show to take place.

Hanabi answered the door with only her undergarments on and looked a bit disappointed as to who was present. "Come in," she said while pulling Hinata in.

"Your dress looks nice," commented Hanabi as Hinata started browsing through the numerous choices of garments laid out upon the grand rococo four poster bed.

"I had some help, thanks. Itachi's collection of costumes is like a treasure trove of jewels," Hinata said smiling and remembering when Sasuke and she had scanned through the large storage room of costumes.

"I can't decide between the different periods of European Royal couture. Which one do you think I should choose?"

"I do love the flirty Marie Antoinette set but I must say that the Elizabeth I has a grand statuesque appeal that definitely commands attention. Both are very much a reflection of you."

"You have a point there but somehow I like the simplicity of Empress Josephine and maybe the regal Catherine II. They're all so decadent," drawled Hanabi.

They were then interrupted by a knock and Hanabi still in her corset and pantaloons answered the door gleefully thinking that her king has cometh. She poked her head out and then returned her attention toward Hinata despondently, "It's for you."

Hanabi closed the door and walked closer to Hinata and whispered, "I don't know what happened lately but I'll support your endeavors." There was a sparkle in her eyes that Hinata couldn't help but feel pressured and somewhat apprehensive of possibly disappointing her. Yet a tinge of rose had already started to appear on her cheeks without the application of an actual blush.

"Oh, no we are at this very moment just very good friends, who enjoy each other's company. I don't think that he has expressed it as anything more but then again I was never good at social interactions."

Hanabi had a look like she was annoyed but ended up replying, "By all means, go answer the door."

Hinata was pleasantly welcomed by Sasuke dressed in a Napoleon inspired ensemble showcasing gold buttoned navy coat, rich light blue waist sash and white flat front satin breeches. He was holding onto the handle of what looked like a seven course meal prepared on a metal serving cart with lids. She replied nervously as if not knowing what to do, "Do come in."

She was about to open the door further when Hanabi reminded the two intruders at the door, "I am still changing."

They both apologized and exited Hanabi's room. Standing in the hallway, he then hands her a chemisette and her key token. He pulls her hair back and lifts it for her to hold while he gently places the key around her neck like a choker with the white lace. Then he positions the chemisette around her exposed neck, cleavage, and back. He instructed her to tuck the front in while he tucks in the back side the loose sheer ruffled fabric as he buttoned the back.

"Didn't I tell you that the dress was too revealing earlier when you showed it to me," he said softly in her ears from behind with his hands resting on her waist. Thanking the heavens that he was standing behind her, she didn't want him to see her completely tomato-like red face and steam bursting from her ears.

Sasuke then as always mysteriously leads her away as if confident without any hesitation or word that somehow she would follow him regardless. He pushes the cart further down the hall until they reach a room that was completely dark. From where they stood outside the room, lively commotions and cheerful reveling could be heard from all over the house. Everyone was preparing for the ball and the grand royal procession that was about to start soon. Sasuke closes the door after they had entered and suddenly the light came on as he pulled onto the string of the light fixture above.

The room was plain compared to all the other rooms at the villa. There was a simple bed, one night stand, and a large leathered chest on one side and on the other end was a small wooden table with two cushions on the floor beside it. The table was on a raised platform half surrounded by slender and etched bay windows that have been encased in carved medieval inspired art. Sasuke pushed the cart toward the table and started setting dinner.

Hinata sat down on one of the cushions directly across from him and started assisting him.

"Since we came back late and missed dinner, I wanted to make sure that you consumed your daily caloric intake," he said winking while handing her a plate.

"Where are we?" she asked curiously.

"Do you want the truth or the fabricated version?" he asked with a sly smile.

She blinks several times not from shock but from sheer pleasure. She answered, "Pray do tell. Pitch your best lies and see if my earnest gullibility falters."

He looked pensive for a moment and then strangely surprised as if he was a lost angel that suddenly found its place among the human race. He refocused again on the food and said, "Voilà, bon appétit Mon ami!" He poured her a glass of champagne and then prepared his table napkin into a bib. Just as she was about to attack the pasta, he started, "This is my mother's leisure room. She wrote her stories when she sat here and painted over there where it's bare. She used to hang her sketches all over the room. As for this window, she designed it herself. It was inspired by a story she wrote for me long ago. The bed over there was actually for me because I would sometimes sit in here and fall asleep while watching her at work."

"She sounds perfectly original."

"I believe so too. Which sauce would you like for your lobster?" he asked while holding up a miniature buffet tray with small ladles for the condiment compartments.

"No lobster for me, thank you. I am not much of a crustacean enthusiast but you could hand me that steak near you."

"Are you a voracious bear or one of those birds that peck at their meals?"

"Hmmm…. I believe that sometimes I am a seal that performs for their meals."

He clapped his hands suddenly and proclaimed, "Presenting the ever so enchanting magician known for her disappearing acts, will now perform a trick for her steak."

She carefully examined the table and picks up the salt and pepper shaker. They were similar to the commercial kind with round, dotted punched holes, and rounded metal top with crystal glass bottom. She cleared an area on the table and poured a good portion of salt on the table. She took the salt shaker and positioned it on the poured salt to sit on one side of its corner. She announced once the salt shaker was balanced in a tilted position, "Presenting trick number one. Tah-da!"

She swiftly sweeps up the poured salt and throws it over her left shoulder and started preparing her second act. Then she grabbed some tooth picks and both condiment shakers and places them before her a foot apart from the other. On each shaker, she carefully inserted a toothpick in the center punched out hole. Then she grabbed his salad and dinner forks along with hers. Carefully, she forced the two pairs of the fork's prong ends together. She then steadily balanced the salad fork pair on the toothpick inserted in the pepper shaker and does the same with the dinner fork pair above the salt shaker. She looks up at him to smile at her artwork. She then very delicately spinned the two fork pairs balancing just slightly in place at the section of the interchanging prongs and by the evenly distributed weights was able to spin slowly while balancing on the tip of the toothpick. "Tah-dah, trick number two," she announced.

He clapped his hands again and said smiling, "That was a great performance but I don't think that you have to work that hard." He was starring at the masterpieces and just curiously touched it. Just as he was examining the spinning mechanism, the foundation went tumbling down. They both laughed hardily from his clumsy inspection.

They both continued eating until they could hear Itachi's voice coming closer down the hall. Sasuke quickly grabs for her hands and turns off the lights.

Itachi walked in with his entourage close behind. They turned on the light and Itachi declares to all very loudly, "I assume my brother doesn't want to participate in the court procession. Oh what a pity, I was hoping to see him all dolled up." With that said, they could be heard leaving the dark room.

Somehow being alone with Sasuke in the dark storage loft above his mother's leisure room left her with hardly any sanity left. Maybe it was the smell of oil paint that made her euphoric or the numerous colorful paintings stacked all over the room that made her awestruck from all the beauty surrounding them. Maybe it was because of the moonlight streaming through the circular window above them that she was breathing hard and in rhythm to his. Maybe it was the rush of cold air from the vacant room that made both warm suddenly from the sudden heated contact. Just as they had closed the latch to the loft, Sasuke had tripped over her gown and both went flying to the floor with a loud thud occurring exactly the same time Itachi had opened the door to the leisure room. When Itachi turned on the light, Sasuke's arms were supporting her head and back and she happened to land upon him.

When Itachi made his announcement, she was drunk by the scent of lemon and butter repeatedly as she watched his lips mumbled words toward his brother's interruption. She kept her eyes open until they were out of harms way when they both heard Itachi's footsteps and voice was completely gone.

With all her senses completely taken over and programmed to perform one function, she boldly kissed the lips that she had been dreaming and fantasizing about lately. She was taken aback by the ease of the process that had been intimidating to her since her first observance of a cinematic romantic love scene at a naïve young age. Here she was experiencing the feat and enjoying it for all its worth.

The kiss was halted by the loud sound of a gong broadcasting the ball's royal procession. The two awkwardly sat up and eventually decided to exit and then participate in the planned events. Still holding onto her hands, he led a blushing Hinata to the woman's side preparing to descend the y-designed stairway. He left her waiting in line behind Temari dressed in a Victorian crimson red fitted military coat with large cuffed sleeves and white satin full skirt gathered and bustled on the back side.

"I love your ensemble," complimented Hinata toward Temari.

"Honestly, I only wanted something that was different but thanks. Now I do like Hanabi's Marie Antoinette set," admired Temari.

"Of course, Kiba has impeccable taste," replied Hanabi and all three giggled. "Did Shikamaru helped pick yours?"

"In dubiously no, I picked his out as a matter of fact," stated Temari smiling. "What about yours Hinata?"

"I picked out the dress but the younger Uchiha had found this chemisette," said Hinata while she showcased the fabric piece. Just as the three were talking, they were interrupted by three other ladies from behind Hinata.

"Pardon our intrusion but we couldn't help but notice that Sasuke Uchiha is your date," commented a tall pink haired lady dressed in a white satin confederate style fur trimmed fitted bodice and full skirt. To Hinata, it was like a winter wedding gown with the tall collar and long sleeves. "Congratulations on such a find. He is quite a catch. I dated him in High School but wasn't lucky enough to hold him down. I hope you will fare better than us."

"He was and even now still dreamy as ever," declared a taller blonde dressed in a velvet green medieval renaissance gown and decked out with large costume jewelry. "But his kisses were so divine. Oh what I would do to chance myself with another kiss by him."

"Charming and suave, he is the epitome of what a real man ought to be," remarked a black haired lady with black rimmed glasses dressed in a deep purple Tudor gown. "His kisses are like sweet peaches on a hot summer day," she said dreamily as if remembering the act itself.

To Hinata, his kiss didn't taste good but she had to admit that his skills were incredible. The conversation of said person only made her uneasy at his frankness of such an intimate act. She was still floating on cloud nine due to the moment of their shared personal spaces but it was slowly dissipating because the significance was lost amidst this conversation.

The pinkhead then gossiped to all present in a hushed tone, "It is rumored that the second half of the inheritance would be granted once Sasuke is married. That would explain why he had been searching for a soul mate since High School."

"It's true. I heard that from a close informant that Sasuke was only testing the water with all of us in the past but because his new business is utterly unsuccessful, I believe that he will continue his search again. So the wife hunt is on," informed the blonde.

Hinata suddenly looked confused and Hanabi instantly barked at the others, "Everyone, take your places. The Queen is descending. I wouldn't want a disorderly procession under my rule." She glared at them and continued fitting her mask and crown. They all lined up behind her majesty and awaited their turn to descend the stairs to meet up with their date descending the other stairs and partnering up at the intersection landing to descend the rest of the way together. Each couple descending had a loud gong produced and their names were called out by a proclamation page.

Before Princess Temari started down the stairs, she encouraged Hinata, "Players always meet their end when they are finally confronted by a worthy opponent. The question now is: Are you up for the challenge." With that she winked and gracefully went down the stairs to meet up with a masked Prince Shikamaru. Hinata carefully adorned her sheer fabric mask with little doily like crocheted trimming. Her gong rang and name was called as she tried to hide her uneasiness walking down the stairs.

He wore a simple blue mask and smiled when they met up. She curtsied while he bowed and they both arm in arm descended the stairway being announced as the court's imperial chief ministers of the right and the left. They both stopped as instructed and stood near the royal throne amongst an audience dressed lavishly and masked.

Among the procession was Naruto with a mask similar to the one worn by a phantom from a famous opera house. He was smiling as always and she couldn't help how her eyes just voluntarily followed his presence. He walked with the blonde lady from earlier who Hinata just realized was her classmate back in High School. She was once the popular lacrosse player but now was a famous model for the Uchiha brand name. She suddenly recalled her name was Ino and her pictures were always spread all over the media. An awkward feeling of hate was boiling up inside her and she couldn't understand it.

Yes Hinata agreed that the girl is beautiful. She had also kissed the person that she herself had earlier shared a moment of passion with and she is also right now walking arm in arm with the one person she had an unrequited love for so long. The pain in her chest felt heavy and the sudden agitation was boiling along with the tension from the heartrending book ending earlier.

As Naruto and Ino stood alongside the court ranks, Hinata couldn't help herself from feeling dirtied by her first kiss and torn from her feelings to her once cherished crush. Once all the court ranks were announced, Itachi had commenced the Masquerade Ball and the dancing music had begun.

Not knowing how to settle her strange new feelings, she fled outside toward the first opened door which led to the gardens. She continued running hoping that her pain would eventually die down by the overwhelming exertion of her own strength.

Just as the maze was in her sight, she was suddenly yanked back by a force far stronger than hers. She settled in his arms and she began to shed tears from emotions that she had never encountered personally before but only through books that she had read. With all the stories of painful heroines running through her mind, she was trying to find one that would answer her feelings. She wanted to know how to instantly snuff out the feeling slowly building inside her. Within his embrace, it only fueled the flames of her strange emotions.

She looked into his eyes and felt another new emotion rising; it was his look of disappointment. She couldn't bare the fact that if she was a candidate for marriage than at this very moment, she failed his expectations. That was what she ultimately thought was running through his mind as he showered her with concerns.

She pushed him away just slightly to say, "I just want to be alone, please."

"Then at least let me escort you to your room because you don't look well right now."

She nodded her head in compliance and he led her to her room.

Once inside her room, she thanked him and he wished her 'good night' from outside her door. She lied down on her bed and was figuring out a way to flee from this place.

By dawn she had wrote a 'good bye' note to Hanabi, Kiba, and Shino and a 'thank you' note to Itachi for having her. She didn't know if running away was the right way of handling things but right now, she was dying to be away from all that drama.

She found a way to reach the airport with Pein's help and was on a plane to Taiwan. She thought that returning to work and her old life would calm her unstable heart.

Just as her aircraft had lifted in the air, she dug in her messenger bag for a book. Instead she stumbled onto the locked book he gave her. She retrieved the key from her neck and unlocked the box. Inside she found his red three books, his old letter from before and above them sat a new folded letter.

She was surprised by his words, it read:

_I don't know when you will find this but hopefully you are in good spirits. I thought that I would share with you a story that my brother and I listened to when we were younger from our mother. I'll show you the art work that was inspired by this story some time later. I think you and my mom would have been great friends. _

_(Please do get comfortable because this may take some time to absorb.)_

_Once upon a time, there lived an enchanting and magical kingdom of fairies living amidst some disguised poisonous mushrooms in the deep forest. On one particular day long ago as prophesized, a female fairy was born exactly as foretold by the court's seer of the future queen that is to wed the young prince. The little baby since birth was raised to someday rule the fairy kingdom and be an honorable wife to the prince. Only being taught scholarly studies and the prince's likes and dislike, she was honed to be deeply devoted to only the prince and to rule beside him. Due to that, she was named Lily of the majestic forest for her devotion and loyalty to his highness._

_Her only friends were her maid, the seer as her teacher and the prince's messenger boy who flew back and forth to occasionally inform her teacher of the prince's updates. By the time she was of age to wed the prince, she had grown to be a refined young fairy of beauty, magical abilities surpassing even her own master, and wisdom beyond her years. Unforeseen by the seer and herself, an unthinkable predicament occurred._

_The prince and his messenger boy went on a joyride on wild bees that were lost from their hive. Seeking entertainment the two went on an excursion under the excuse of returning the bees to their home. The fairy Prince Jules and his servant Elwin crash landed near a babbling brook and were frozen awestruck by the presence of human giants resting nearby. It was an enormous parked coach with many military men on horseback. Suddenly the door of the coach opened and waltzing out was a petite figure hidden underneath a heavy black cloak. Prince Jules was instantly smitten by the female as he came closer toward the giant scooping water up for a drink at the brook and just slightly happened to expose her head from the cloak. He fell in love with the female's beautiful long black hair and allure of her sweet character._

_Somehow with the Prince's quick reflexes and keen ears heard approaching sounds of arrows increasing toward the group of humans. With only experience of some magical skills, he sprinkled fairy dust upon himself and Elwin and both instantly grew along with their belongings to the size of the humans camped nearby. They flew in like a flurry of dust and immediately with their swords were intercepting the oncoming aerial attack from afar causing all the humans to duck for cover. The Prince's only thoughts were to protect the girl and didn't even process the repercussion of consequences that were to follow when breaking the ultimate law of the fairies: Never interact with the Humans. _

_As the attack halted, Prince Jules listened carefully for more attacks but eventually heard the intruders speedily riding off in the distance. Due to his daring heroism, he was asked to join them on their journey to deliver the Princess from a far away kingdom to wed the nearby Alder Kingdom's King Wesley and that he could be rewarded for his feat once meeting the king. _

_Since you should be done getting dressed soon and I am getting hungry, let's end it here for now and I'll tell you the rest when we are attending my brother's show tomorrow. It will be our parting gift when I return to Japan and my café to work. Don't forget your story teller is only a couple of doors further down the hall. _

_Whatever happens this week, let's have fun together. I truly do enjoy your company whether near or far._

_Leader of the Bandits_

Hinata was beside herself from the note that was snuck in her room when she was getting dressed yesterday. Dying to find out more in the story but thinking that what she did was a more horrible deed and undeserving of such kindness, will never be able to get the rest of the story. Her selfish and cowardly act could be the only reason for their friendship ending so quickly but even in this state of self loathing, she missed him too.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Blue Moon, please," ordered Kiba and leaning over the bar.

Sasuke couldn't believe that he was discovered from his hiding place so soon. He was hiding behind the bar of the parlor in the dark while everyone else was attending the show downtown. He got up and hit the switch for the lights. He started looking around for the ingredients to mix Kiba's drink. While preparing the mixture, he asked curiously, "Why aren't ya attending the fashion show? Don't you always follow your girl around obediently?"

Kiba was momentarily admiring the tall glass arched windows of the far wall east of the bar. The sun was departing and swirls of purple and blue were trailing after the sun. He looked back at Sasuke and replied, "She is in Shino's capable hands at the moment but I believe you are the one who needs my company right now." He smiled humbly and accepted his alcoholic beverage graciously.

They weren't close friends in High School but only crossed paths because both were acquaintances of Shino's. Shino was a member of the Go club and friends with Shikamaru, a member of the Shōgi club and both clubs shared the same club room. Sasuke was in the Go Home club due to his job while Kiba was a member of the Archery club. Because Sasuke was sometimes the mystery mascot for school sport's activities, it was rare actually that they would cross paths.

Sasuke rarely interacted back then in the all boy's school but the always rowdy Naruto and his friends would constantly barrage their friendly camaraderie at Sasuke. He always felt that he was a loner and maybe even a recluse amongst the male students. Losing his parents in grade school left him to be estranged from the world. It was like he was a drifting leaf just flowing with the current without any aim or purpose in life but always avoided contact with others.

In High School and Middle School, he would hike the school hill early in the morning just to avoid the morning traffic of students. During lunch time, he would nap in the Library's storage room. After school, he would jet out quickly to avoid another onslaught of traffic of departing students. Avoiding people was always easy for him.

It was sometime later during High School that his father's personal lawyers had met up with Sasuke to discuss the second inheritance that no one knew what the contents were. Itachi always assumed that their parents had stashed away some cash somewhere for rainy days but to Sasuke it was something that he wanted. He somehow had an idea that it had to be valuable if his parents had bargained his marriage for it.

So then, he made it his mission to search for a soul mate even if it meant interacting and socializing with others. He chased anything with a skirt back then and found it easy as he continued hunting. He used his good looks, fortune, and aloof personality as an advantage to gain the opposite sex's interest. He never had to work hard to get the girl and they were all willing partners. Maybe it was the chase that made him become more socially engaging since then.

Even during his travels in Asia working, he didn't have a hard time with the female population either even when there was a language barrier between them. So in his mind, Hinata Hyuga was probably the only female that had ever made him exert so much effort into keeping her interested in him. His brain worked over time on conjuring subjects to discuss and sometimes she would surprise him by steering the conversation somewhere else.

To him, her conversations were like a pinball machine where the playfield were sectioned out like a library collection. He would catapult a ball and watch it land in the reference section until it rolled over to the history and finally end up in a warped hole of the fictional abyss. Depending on how lucky he was, he would sometimes keep the ball playing for long hours, earn extra balls by changing the subject, or just completely hit a dead end at a switched gate. Some conversations were brilliant and some were sour but he enjoyed them all even in victory or defeat. She had definitely gained his attention.

So, seeing her being jealous while staring at his blonde friend only tore his heart apart. Chasing after her and seeing her crushed appearance because of his friend was more devastating to witness. Finally, having her run away to another country left him feeling rejected in the most humiliating way possible. For once, in Sasuke Uchiha's life, he was hurt by a woman. It wasn't the same loss as losing his mother but it was something more upsetting that he couldn't stomach. Now sitting at a bar feeling defeated and utterly unmanly, he drank his alcohol solvent with a close acquaintance of the person who had put him in this state.

"Why do you suppose she left?" asked Sasuke looking at the buoyant ice cubes in his drink.

Kiba leaned back in his bar stool and commented casually, "Maybe the weather wasn't to her liking here."

"Was I laying it on too strong or is it the jealousy that is making me rethink this all haphazardly?"

Kiba picked up his drink and swirled the contents in a circular motion and then holding the glass still, he looked at the after effects of the trapped centripetal force spinning within the glass. "You know that old European saying about how woman are like fine wine and as they age their taste improves. Well, your target is only at the early stages of her maturity level when it comes to the delicate dance that we like to call the evolution of mating. And as for you pursuing her, you did not nip at her heels while chasing her but instead I believed that you strolled alongside her."

Sasuke looked bewildered for a bit and then asked, "Why do you say so?"

"Well to me it looked like you were reverting backward in your evolution of the dance to compliment her developmental maturity. I could be wrong but compared to the Sasuke I knew in High School, you were easily bored by your pursuits and gave up nonchalantly whether if it damaged the other party's feelings. And as for your jealousy, she had been in love with him much longer than the time you two have spent together so accepting that fact will be up to you. Just give her some time to be alone. She had always been an introvert so she should be recharging her energy now that she had exhausted all her energy for the company of others on this trip."

"Kiba, when did you become so wise?" asked Sasuke humoring the person who had just relieved some of his troubles.

"Actually I didn't come here to console you. I came here on behalf of the Queen's order to deliver a message."

Sasuke was taken back by the comment and eventually asked, "I guess I will take what I can get so what's the deal?" He assumed that Hanabi being a shrewd and calculating person had already schemed a plan that was either advantageous to him or against him.

"Our visit to the Subakus was not coincidental but by way of a disguised wedding interview between their youngest to our eldest. My engagement may have been leaked to the public but securing the Hyuga's eldest daughter's marriage before her younger sibling is of utmost importance among our clans so that the family name would not be ruined by such silly matters. You should also be aware that Gaara had specified that if you were to back down, than he shall pursue. Also, you were not her first candidate, her father had actually chosen your brother long ago but your brother refused the offer and extended it to you instead. So now that you know who your rivals are, I advice that you play your cards right from now on. That is all that my Queen has instructed to relay and as for the consultation, we can call it a lagniappe of sorts."

With that he stood up, patted Sasuke on the back, and walked away leaving a more troubled soul at the bar compared to his state before Kiba entered the parlor.

Sasuke got up and was about to chase down Kiba for her current location when his cell phone rang. The number shown was his wood crafting master from his travels through Asia, Chief Kakashi. He instantly took the call and answered, "Long time no see, chief. How can I be of service?"

A soft chuckle could be heard on the other end, "Sasuke you sound well as always."

"Well when my master calls, it could only mean business."

"I have a favor to ask."

"I am not part of your team any more to assist in these large scale projects."

"No, I wasn't calling to assemble you in a team but I called to ask about a piece we worked on long ago. We had a throne set made for a family in China to replicate an antique heirloom whose description was from an old ancestral diary. We had the upholstery done by an artist who is working on another piece for the family and had asked if they could discuss the artwork with you about why you carved the thrones so. With your help they also want to incorporate it in their current project. I might have to look into the work journals that I made you input daily during your tenure with us for investigational purposes. So, what say you?"

"I am currently in France right now but I could make arrangements to speak to them anytime here or back in Konoha. I should be returning tomorrow. This will be an opportunity for me to shove some matters off my chest."

"The infamous Sasuke Uchiha having trouble, now the world has to be revolving backward," snickered his master. "I'll text you later with the available contacts and vice versa with them. I believe his name Koh or something. I am thankful for your help, kid. If you ever get tired of Konoha, you have a place here."

"Thanks but I think I found something interesting in Konoha," he replied and they both ended the call.

Chief Kakashi was at the moment in Taiwan about to meet up with the official artist working on the tapestry for the Wei family. The arts and ancestral antiques have been fought over by the Chins in China over a decade of feuding over who had ownership of the artifacts that had been salvaged from the wars. Both families believed that they were the true descendents and rightful owners of the art pieces. Kakashi had been working with the Chins on replicating a family room from the Ming Dynasty. Since the replication was described in a journal from that era, the replicated thrones that Sasuke worked on were also put under jurisdiction until an owner was called forth for the artifacts.

Finally the courts, divided the artworks and the Weis won the ownership to the replicated thrones, diary, other antiques which would explain why Kakashi was meeting up with Hinata at a Hotel lobby to discuss the origins of the carvings on the thrones that will be displayed with the tapestry to honor the Wei's patriarch and matriarch's seventy-fifth wedding anniversary.

Kakashi being a laid back person was dressed in jeans and a buttoned up shirt. He had an eye patch to cover up an eye that was injured from an incident during his youth. His hair was a mess as always but had an interesting platinum blond when he was only in his early forties. He spotted Koh immediately due to his bald head walking with a young lady dressed in a crisp black trench and black pointy flats. She had an old leathered messenger bag slung across her shoulders. Koh introduced both and they continued walking toward their destination. His first impression of her was 'timid and adorable.' He thought she was cute as to how she spoke softly but with unique hand expressions. She would bat her eyes lashes just so daintily not in a seductive manner but rather in a dreamily manner.

They entered the eating establishment and she started discussing business immediately after they were seated.

"Mr. Kakashi, these are photos of the carvings on the thrones and I hope that you could describe to me in detail the inspiration for each design."

"May I call you Hinata," he asked and she nodded in agreement. "Most of these carvings were done by my apprentice and I have here some of his work journals that I have obligated them to input daily while on the site. This way we could answer questions like the ones you have presently."

He produced from his executive bag several journals and it looked like he had marked many pages with some adhesive notes.

"I will leave these in your care and hope that they will be informative to you. I am a man of little words but I believe Koh can assist you with the details from our past interviews. When you are done with the books please contact me to retrieve them. I have also inserted the name of my apprentice and his contact number. The marked pages are from the period when we were on site there. I am sorry but I cannot have lunch with you for my time is valuable. I am glad that we were able to meet because we were both late today."

Hinata blushed suddenly and he smiled from the reaction. She thanked him and he was already saying his farewell. As he was getting up, he noticed the opened leathered messenger sitting on his adjacent chair contained a wooden book locker and speculated instantly that she could possibly be the interesting something in Konoha..

"I believe you will enjoy these books far more than I will ever appreciate them for what they are worth," he commented while tapping on the work journals lying on the table. With that he walked away without turning back to receive her farewell salutations and voiced appreciation.

After lunch, Hinata parted ways with Koh who was returning to Konoha and had left her all his notes that he had been taking from the Wei's, the Chin's, Kakashi, and his crew.

She returned to her hotel room and started to organize all the information gathered to begin her work. Her plane landed earlier and she hadn't had any sleep. She was still punishing herself for what she did and was dying to continue the story that he had introduced.

While looking over the collected information, she realized that Koh could never have replaced her and now he had put her back six weeks of lost work. Even if she was the artisan who produced the upholstery fabric for the throne set, this tapestry was going to take her a half a year to work on and maybe longer. The anniversary wasn't set until next year but she had to start a time schedule on all her work. She grabbed the first work journal after changing into pajamas and threw herself on the bed.

Strangely enough the handwriting was oddly familiar and she was in awe if it was who she thought it belonged to. The name entered on the 'This book belongs to' was written the number seventeen. Instead of going straight to the marked pages, she opted to read page one. The first page had the date and time written above. Following that information was a time table listing the jobs completed and breaks taken. There were strange symbol markings on each page like indications of some sorts. The next twenty or so pages or dates, were written similar to the first. It wasn't until she read up to a new job description in China that she found it very interesting.

She soon found the craftsman to be witty and even sadistic at times. He jotted things on the margins and drew maps and directions. He even wrote funny haikus about his co-workers. He soon became more open about his feelings once he reached a particular date. It was written under his work time table one specific day:

_Asian plum blossoms or otherwise known as Japanese Apricot blossoms to some filled the streets today. I awoke to some while I lied on my futon near the opened windows. The sounds of the birds chirping along with children walking to school brought back memories of long ago. A time when I was happy to say 'good bye' to my parents or nanny because I knew that when I came home someone would greet me with a 'welcome home.' _

_Listening to the kids talk about the newest trends only made me think of one person, my obnoxious so-called friend. If he were here right now, he would probably jump out from behind the bushes and scared the kids to consequently pee in their pants and run home to their parents and I would then have to go into parental control mode to pacify the situation. Knowing that the kids here have it hard, they probably have rocks in their pockets and would pummel my friend to death for displaying such a weak scare tactic. That would sound more reasonable. _

_Another day and another dollar earned._

At the bottom of the page was a taped dried petal. She assumed the writer was sentimental after all. She continued reading and found another interesting entry.

_Strangely enough, she told me that she loved me but I couldn't understand her love. She said that her heart had never ached as much as when she was with me. Either my Chinese is bad or she was telling me that it hurt to be with me. Whatever it was, I have to tell master later that I won't eat her delivered lunch anymore if she was gonna hang out afterwards at the work site. _

She laughed at the entry and suddenly she realized what some of the marking indications were. Every two weeks on Friday was a dollar sign which could only mean payday. Each Sunday had a sun drawn which must have been a fun day or a religious day. She found occasional hearts and they must have been something like scoring with a girl perhaps. There were stars too so she guessed that they were maybe an indication of an entertainment of sorts like a movie or book. There were more symbols drawn but she couldn't figure out what the moon, music, happy face and hammer were. There was only one flower that she had come across so far.

Finally toward the end, she found the most entertaining entry of all the entries. It was a rough outline to the story that Sasuke had written on his last letter to her. It was written in shorthand and vague in meaning. It was as if he was trying to recall the story. Each day in the margins, he would doodle here and there of what he thought was next. It was like reading an author's notes to an original manuscript. She bit her lips from such a discovery and realized that this had to be Sasuke Uchiha and his obnoxious friend was Naruto. The irony of the whole thing was completely beyond her. The continuation of her story was practically handed over to her without her having to get in contact with said person.

She found where he had stopped and pieced this much together of the story so far.

Prince Jules and his servant Elwin in human form joined the traveling group of humans. Meanwhile at the Fairy kingdom, a search party was formed once knowledge of the prince being kidnapped was reported. The search party consisted of Lily and her maid servant Bronwen. The court magistrates felt that it was time that Lily had to prove her worth in the eyes of all the fairies. If she could return the Prince home safely than she was worthy of leading their race.

So Lily and Bronwen packed up and went in search of the Prince and his servant. Poor Lily never left the fairy kingdom before or her home had a hard time adjusting to the outside world. It wasn't until they found a sparrow that had been wounded and lying near a babbling brook. The bird's wing was injured by a large wooden arrow that had pierced right through it as if it was hit during mid flight. Lily felt sorry for the bird and cared for it. She cast a powerful magic spell that healed the wound but there was still a small hole present. Because of the spell, Lily had to rest and eventually fell asleep on Bronwen's lap while she was leaning on the poor sparrow.

They both awoke to an overly excited bird cawing loudly and dancing. The bird thanked both ladies and swore his fealty to Lily as a loyal bodyguard. Lily accepted his allegiance and asked if he could perhaps explain how he was attacked. The bird retold the story about the loud buzzing bees and how he tried to hush them up by scaring them a bit but they ended up crash landing near this brook. He told them how two humans appeared suddenly, who rescued the humans on horses, and how he was injured from that sudden ambush. Lily like an investigator researched the surrounding area.

Hinata soon reached the end of the first journal was feeling much better than when she arrived here and feeling completely exhausted, fell asleep on the book that had just a slight hint of mandarin orange. She dreamed of a vast field of red flowers and a little boy dressed in black.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Naruto screamed through the earpiece, "Sasuke, where are you? The plane is gonna depart soon."

"Just give me a minute," answered Sasuke in an agitated tone. He turned off the communication mechanism and continued his confrontation with Gaara Subaku. He had requested a moment of his time to discuss a matter at hand and Gaara politely agreed. So here they were standing far away from the departure terminal so that no one else could eavesdrop.

"If you are going to confess, I will have to politely turn you down because I," Gaara was cut off by Sasuke interrupting him by suddenly grabbing onto his shoulders fiercely.

"Look it doesn't matter how many times she denies me, places a multi-continental restraining order on me, or runs away because of that blonde idiot over there confuses her, I will not hand her over to you. Unless I keel over that is and I won't let you have that satisfaction either. So wipe that smug off your face because your glorious days of victory are over," Sasuke barked the threat so quickly that he had to stop and take in some air.

Gaara removes Sasuke's hold on him and spoke politely, "Enjoy that fresh air, Uchiha because on your funeral day I will be celebrating my much anticipated matrimonial union. Oh look, I believe your flight has made its last announcement." Gaara pointed at the blinking terminal sign and waved 'good bye' to his friend with a wrapped painting as a carry on luggage.

Kankuro and Temari walked up to him and both asked simultaneously, "What was that about?"

Gaara smiled and answered them, "I don't know but I do love being feared by others. What can I say; I always like having my enemies nearby."

With that all three siblings left the airport.

Inside the commercial compartment of the plane, Naruto was already causing problems for the stewardesses by requesting outrageous amenities. When he found that the flight attendants were of no more amusement, he settled his attention onto Sasuke because the others were all knocked out and Jiraiya was seated in the first class compartment. "Say, are you mad at me?" asked Naruto suddenly.

Sasuke ignored him and was upset that the other three had left this seat open for him. He turned to the side as to avoid his attacks and continued writing a memo.

Naruto started nudging Sasuke in an annoying manner and asked again, "Why are you mad at me?"

Sasuke was facing the window and wondering what was it that could possibly be attractive about Naruto. He had a simple sense of humor, his loyalty could be comparable to a Seeing Eye dog, and his loud behavior could be described as intolerable. So what could he himself be lacking that Naruto was deemed worthy of her attention. He finally answered, "I am seething with jealousy and acceptance of that truth is currently unbearable."

Naruto leaned back in his chair and was trying to get comfortable. When he rested his arms behind his head, he started with, "You know, it used to kill me inside just watching the entire female population of Konoha swarming and swooning all over a jackassed prick like you. Anti-social and socially inept to human contact could just flash a come hither look and girls would line up for a chance with you. Maybe that's why when she confessed to me, I assumed she was a fan of yours' instead. Even at the crack of dawn when we waited at the train station, there she was awaiting for us just to sneak a peak. But unbeknownst to me was her true intentions, I thought she was staring at you instead because you always returned her gaze. When she attended some of our games, they were the ones with you under the mascot costume. Ironic isn't it. Maybe instead of being jealous of Gaara, you should focus on who she should be looking at instead. Just because the grass is greener on the other side doesn't mean that she covets it too. From my point of view, I think she likes you and doesn't know it yet. That's all to it."

Sasuke was beside himself and completely ashamed that he ever felt any envious feelings toward his friend. He wanted to apologize as he turned around but was met by a snoring Naruto sleeping contentedly. For a guy that looked oblivious to his surrounding was actually the most observant of all. At that exact moment he felt grateful for their friendship. For the two loudest mouthed alums from Konoha's all Boy's High School to become the two most capable adults in consoling others, was completely beyond him.

Sasuke returned his attention on the letter that he was writing but couldn't focus on the intention. Chief Kakashi had texted him the contact numbers to a man named Koh and his senior director's information. He thought that if he didn't have a chance to speak to them, he would write a short explanation of the project. He based most of the artwork to the story that his mother had told him long ago and he introduced just briefly to Kaguya aka the elder Hyuga, because the diary excerpts that was shared with him was somewhat similar to the story line of prince Jules and Lily.

The girl who wrote in her diary wrote about her love saga she experienced overseas in England while attending school there and when she returned to her hometown. The problems she experienced were painful and sorrowful. Compared to Prince Jules, he foolishly followed the princess without understanding that she was to be the future queen of that kingdom. He was still experiencing that innocent first love phase to actually understand what he was doing wrong.

He tried to capture the main themes and dramatic scenes where Prince Jules was conflicted by his love for the Princess that was to be wed soon and with the destined wife that was chosen for him. Sasuke incorporated the sparrow's eagerness to assist his savior and paramount the Prince's desire to make changes to his predestined fate by integrating self discovery also by showcasing the clouds and winds growing stronger as Prince Jules matured.

The story starts to mellow around the time that the cast is assembled at the castle as a backdrop. Prince Jules and his servant were awarded by King Wesley as a hero and wanted to knight the poor fellow. The eager slightly wounded sparrow had bravely flown the two fairy ladies to by chance encounter with the prince.

The setting was a late evening amidst the royal gardens and the Prince was talking to his servant about how to magically appear before the Princess when he was abruptly halted by the uninvited guests of the bird and his two passengers. Lily was furious that her future husband was so irresponsible but since this was their first meeting she instantly could sense the attraction toward him. She found him to be kind, witty, and mischievous. Lily and Bronwen still in fairy form ended up assisting the Prince by hiding within the collars of each man. Lily concealed herself within the Prince's and Bronwen in Elwin's collar. This way they helped each other in difficult predications such as when the boys ran out of magic dust to continue the guise, helped get them out of trouble when speaking with the King, and even assisted in wooing the Princess. Lily found it to be an adventure and took on all the challenges. She soon forgot her mission and started to enjoy the prince's company even though they disagreed most of the time but they had engaging conversations and could talk at ease to each other without pretense.

It wasn't until one fateful night that Lily perchance listened to a strange conversation between the princess of the far away kingdom and the military guard about changing their plans. It seemed that the Princess was supposed to be a martyr on that day at the babbling brook so that her kingdom could declare war on Alder Kingdom for murdering their princess. Their plans were ruined by the strange sudden appearance of Jules and Elwin. Their new plans had to do something with killing herself on her wedding night.

Lily instantly flew toward the Prince to warn him but he wouldn't listen by stating that Lily's plans to return him home were a failure and a disappointment. Lily also suspected that it was strange for the Princess to be completely devoid of the Prince's flirtations during the period that Lily was around to aid in his courtship. Seeing that the Prince was mad at her and both servants were missing at the moment, she called on the aid of the bird. She ran away so that the Prince could experience first hand the pain of being deceived and heartache's maladies.

Sasuke carved elements expressing the formidable and loyalty of a lily blossom. The carefree and always earnest sparrow, whose only wishes were to serve his savior at the hour of his death, was compassionate toward Lily's unrequited love for the Prince. Even though she was raised to love Prince Jules, she somehow knew instantly when she first laid eyes on him at the royal gardens that he sparked emotions in her that cannot be taught in books or by her teacher. The time they spent together only made her realize how much it hurt her to watch him flirt with the human princess. By her running away, she was only hurting herself and the prince.

After writing the main themes and ideas of the carvings onto a sheet of paper, he folded it and tucked it in his inner pocket suede blazer. Seeing that his whole party was asleep and opted for the same option and eventually found comfort with the reverberating sounds of the flight soothing him to incur a stimulated nocturnal sleep.

They slept the rest of the trip due to the highly eventful overseas vacation time and were making up for those past hectic days. They finally landed in Konoha after one flight stop and were thankful to the welcoming common grounds of their hometown. By the time they reached the café, they were fascinated and awestruck by the new window decorations.

It seemed that their absence during Golden Week a phenomenon had occurred here. Taped notes by patrons and treasure seekers were posted all over the business's display windows entailing their inquiries about the establishment and requests for open business. Sasuke almost dropping his painting when he was reading one note declaring the stellar mystery solved but stolen goods were beyond this window, was completely beside himself. He could not believe that by just inserting interesting maps of the establishment could cause this much of an uproar. Seeing that most of the notes were signed by female admirers, he was completely at awe by the mastermind behind the ingenious marketing plan to target book lovers to a place like this. Hinata Hyuga wasn't just Kaguya, the story telling heroine anymore but the girl that completely captured all of his essence and not just his mind.

The boys took down all the taped notes and went inside. Sai immediately started working on a bulletin board to display all the letters retrieved outside while Chouji was working on dinner. Shikamaru was updating the computer's register to prepare for tomorrow's work day. Naruto was inspecting the entire inventory to make sure that for their reopening, they would make a spectacular welcome to their new patrons. It seemed that Hinata had given the boys an incredible incentive to reopen business again and a refreshing awakening from their tired trip.

Sasuke instantly checked the fax and answering machine because when his master requested a favor, he was actually demanding a professional job to be completed. Even the answering machine was loaded with inquires about the café, pâtissier, and barista shop and the fax machine was completely bombarded with messages piled up high. Because the fax eventually ran out paper to print the rest, Sasuke immediately replaced a new ink ribbon and watched the fascinating printing display the facsimile mechanism's speed at outputting prints per minutes.

Strangely enough the last fax was an interesting one because it was addressed to 'employee number seventeen.' Sasuke felt strangely anxious reading the fax cover sheet because it was written from 'Lily of the Majestic Forest.' He grabbed the remaining freshly warm printed sheets and hauled his ass to his room for some privacy.

Threw his luggage on his bed and placed the painting on to the side while taking off his blazer, Sasuke was trying to get comfortable on his swivel chair at his desk before indulging on the received fax message. Just as he was about start reading the document, his cell phone rang. Without even looking at the caller's identity, he had already answered the phone, "Hello."

"Oh my, I thought that you would be still depressed but you sound well," said a voice very much akin to Itachi's manner of articulation.

Regretting ever picking up the call, he asked, "May I help you?"

Itachi sounded tickled pink from the reply and answered, "You missed my show yesterday. I wanted to showcase to you my focal statement on my designs this season. Could you guess what my inspiration was?"

"What?"

"It sounds like you are not interested in my ideas. When did you lose interest in our parents' dreams?"

Sasuke didn't lose interest; he just couldn't see himself competing with his brother in a world where his handicap could never compete fairly with him. Itachi had the personality to charm others when all he had were his looks. Itachi had the flair to change people's opinion when all he did was simplify outcomes. Maybe that was why he never felt like he belonged in his parent's fashion world. He strayed from it by going into other outlets of the arts. "I just don't have that drive anymore."

"Maybe you just haven't found that inspiration you were looking for."

"Why did you call me?" asked Sasuke confused about his brother's sudden concern of affection toward him.

"I will be shopping in Vietnam for an interesting art sculptor to place in my foyer later and wanted to know if you wanted to go shopping with me if you are not busy that is."

"No, thank you. It seems that something interesting here had came up and caused the café to be very busy in the upcoming days."

"Well then don't let me interfere with your business. Farewell, little brother."

Sasuke hung up the phone and continued with his reading. The fax read as so:

Page 2 of 7

_Mr. Seventeen of Kakashi's wood craftmans, Ltd.,_

_My name is Hinata Hyuga, director in charge of personal and exclusive orders made at Hyuga Textile Inc. I am writing in reference to a project that we had collaborated together in the past. The collaborated art piece was the Chin family's 'grandfather' chair set or otherwise known as an 'Imperial Rector's chair.' Now that it is in the possession of the Wei family, they have requested me to replicate the matching screen tapestry to be displayed on a specified family feast date. I wanted to get the general or specific details that you could allow me the privilege of divulging such intimate details as to the inspiration for the final carving designs. Your much needed input is desired so that both art displays could be as harmonious and complimenting to the other. I have enclosed detailed contact information and my work schedule. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you very much for your time and may you have a lovely day._

_Hinata Hyuga of Hyuga Textiles Inc._

Page 3 of 7

_P.S.. I would like to apologize for my weak character and my cowardice display by running away. I was wrong to have left amidst the festivities hosted by your brother. You see, I have a confession to make and I hope that it doesn't hinder our friendly relationship. I have been in love with Naruto Uzumaki ever since I found out his name. You will think that I am quite foolish but he saved me in the past when my life was dreadfully dark. He gave me light and was always bright in nature. I was drawn to that bright light. I could even be considered as having a stalking-like, possessiveness constitution toward him in the past but as I grew older and my profession became more demanding, the distance only strained the feelings I had for him. So in other words if I ever wanted to move on, I will need some type of psychological healing to sever this feeling toward your friend. So please allow me a time period of letting go of my past. Again I am selfish, but until this crush is overcome I cannot move forth with you but only stay as your friend._

Page 4 of 7

_P.S.S. If we do move on then you owe me a kiss that could only be described as epic, legendary, and lastly exceptionally special compared to all the sluttish, numerous, past kisses that you have had the audacity to place upon such lips before mine. I will not judge your past but only ask that if you kiss me again, I will not be so forgiving as to have others insult what I deem to be a beautiful and private act._

She had included a page for clauses of the International Privacy Act notice. The next page was her work schedule time table and lastly was her contact information. The funny thing was that she had dollar signs and suns drawn on specific dates on her work schedule calendar. He smiled thinking that the God of fortune was definitely smiling on him because somehow the red strings of fate that was lengthened before was now a very short string after all. What he deemed an impossible reach and a mountain to climb became a hop and skip away. He was a hapless fool after all to have received fortune's fool.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Catch," hollered Naruto as he threw a small package toward the guys sitting at the dinner table.

"Thanks," said Sai catching the item mid-air with his outreached arms. It was his favorite four ounce sized tofu and peaches ice cream.

"Awesome, ice cream after a day we had," said Chouji catching a pint sized double whammy mocho choco-la-te.

"You should lose bets more often," commented Shikamaru as he caught a vanilla flavored single serving cup.

"At least I didn't lose bets like Sasuke did back in High School," teased Naruto as he threw an object at Sasuke.

Sasuke caught the thing and stuffed it in his pant pocket as he was finishing up the meat stew in a bread bowl prepared by Shikamaru earlier for everyone.

Chouji patted Sasuke on the back and humored, "It wasn't that bad. You only had to don a ninja outfit as our school mascot."

"I had to admit Sasuke lost some terrible dares back then," recalled a snickering Sai.

Naruto was digging into his favorite fried ramen covered vanilla ice cream ball. "He practically doubled the amount of spectators who attended our games so I'm not fussing."

"That's because you guys cheated by pitting me against Shika in video games, Naruto in absurd and outlandish obstacle courses, Sai in manga and anime trivia, and Chouji in his field of cooking expertise. I was doomed from the beginning," complained Sasuke.

"Well how else were we gonna get ya to hang out with us," replied all four in unison. They all laughed heartily to the reminiscent days of their fun-fill school days.

"Whose gonna conduct traffic flow in the morning?" asked Shikamaru suddenly changing the subject. "The lines and wait time has increased"

"We really need to hire more staffers now," proposed Chouji.

"I already placed ads in the weekly employment circulation, newspaper, and internet. Maybe I should post flyers at heavy traffic areas near here," suggested Sai. He was already drawing on the paper napkins ideas for the flyers.

The guys agreed by nodding their heads and started to clear the table.

"I should be getting the permit for changing our window display into a "To Go" window soon. Pretty soon that should slow down the traffic flow through our main sales floor," offered Sasuke.

"Man it's been so busy that we haven't had a chance to play our weekly poker game. I hope we get some female workers here so that we can order some cute ruffled aprons," said Naruto in a trancelike state.

"But most of our patrons are woman, shouldn't we just stick to men," added Chouji.

"Hey, Sasuke the book compartment with hidden mug and saucer sales have increased so how will you have time to make more?" asked Shikamaru.

Ever since Hinata's marketing scheme made a big hit among book readers in the age group and female population ranging from middle schoolers to empty nest grandmothers have exhausted the boys the last two weeks. Even Shikamaru had put in his resignation at work and Sai had halted all incoming illustration jobs until this phenomenon smoothes over. They also had to open earlier and close later to meet with the demands of the customers. They may all have been tired lately but their pride as five way split ownership of the establishment was declared recently, that they have enjoyed the feeling of being their own managers instead of working under someone else.

"Then I hope new recruits will join us soon," answered Sasuke. "I'll take the morning patrol so Good Night everyone and thank you for your hard work." He was about to ascend the stairs when the boys started jeering from within the kitchen. Sasuke continued his ascension upward the spiral staircase in the back kitchen leading to their living quarters by the serenade and crooning of four Japanese guys singing a western country song about fantasizing of being 'online' as their alter ego.

Sasuke looked at his watch to check the time and was two minutes early until his appointment with a shy wallflower who was hundreds of miles away. He dug in his pant pockets for the item that he requested Naruto to pick up at the grocers for earlier. It was a pack of blue rounded plastic thumbtacks. Hinata's trip around Europe had used up all his blue ones from his last pack. Now he was journeying her travels through Asia. She is currently in Vietnam to inspect the silkworm threads she ordered two weeks ago at her family mill factory there.

He stepped onto his bed and began tracing back from France and onward with the pincushion like tacks nailed onto the oversized world map in various countries over a bulletin board cushion to protect the wall. As he finished tacking her recent locations, he stepped down from his bed to inspect the overall look. From where he stood, her blue tacks were starting to collide with his red tacks from when he traveled around Asia with master Kakashi and when he traveled the world when he was younger.

The total effect was sort of comforting to him because it made him feel just a little closer to her.

His laptop suddenly alerted a sound indicating that a friend had entered the online site he had opened up earlier. 'Lily of the Majestic Forest' had signed on and Sasuke immediately went on to send an invitation to continue correspondence in a private room.

**Leader of the Bandits** has joined

**Lily of the Majestic Forest** has joined

**Leader of the Bandits: **How far did ya get done today?

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **I just finished packing up all the supplies so I should be ready to travel to Singapore tomorrow morning.

**Leader of the Bandits: **Couldn't you weave here in Konoha?

**Lily of the Majestic Forest:** The looming machine that I just purchased is ancient and would fall apart while transporting it to Japan. It is momentarily being looked at by a crew of technicians I dispatched the other day to prepare it for me. Now I will be the proud owner of five working antique looming apparatuses due to my strange job. Say, I have a favor to ask. Are you game?

**Leader of the Bandits: **Pitch it.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **I need an encasement for the screen and was wondering if you could be the proud craftsman to produce the art work.

**Leader of the Bandits:** Impossible.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest:** That's ok then I will contact Mr. Kakashi tomorrow morning for a collaboration consultation.

**Leader of the Bandits: **I have my hands full sorry.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **No need for apologies. Was hoping that we could work together, that's all. Oh, rejection is so hard deal with. What will I do now? **swoons in despair**

**Leader of the Bandits:** Guilt trip eating at me.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **:p How's the shop faring now a days?

**Leader of the Bandits: **Slow as a snail.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **I guess you will have to wait until this project is done for me to wear outfit number three.

**Leader of the Bandits: **Anticipating the day.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **Looking forward to it. (Sort of) A punishment is a punishment no matter how sadistic it may be for you. Please be kind to me on that day.

Hey, what was your mom's intention when she had the princess commit suicide before the prince's eyes when his magic suddenly ran out and he couldn't save the newly wedded queen of Alder Kingdom on her conjugal bed?

**Leader of the Bandits: **Complete despair and finally realizing that Lily was true to her words.

[Sasuke was amazed that irony played some funny tricks on him lately. He had forgotten that he had jotted notes down in his work journal for the designs and was now entertainment for his dear fair maiden to read. She pieced together all the jumbled notes and formulated the idea of how the story flowed.]

[What she was talking about now was the part where Lily had run away with the sparrow to prove to the Prince that she was only being his friend when she spoke the truth. Soon after she left, the prince's magical guise ran out of fairy dust. He had the two servants to assist in his visit to the newly wedded Princess on her marriage night to wish her Good bye. But instead of visiting a blushing bride, he was met by a devastating scene.]

[Before her last breath, she had mouthed the words, 'Thank you" which must have been for the Prince's kindness showered on her the last couple of weeks. That moment showed that the Princess had developed feelings for the Prince and that somehow she knew that he was nearby.]

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **The Princess's kingdom is named Alnus, right? So, what is their gain from this war?

**Leader of the Bandits: **Yes. They are another forest filled country and expansionism and imperialism is their goal like many causes for war.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **On the night before the war broke out, what message do you think Lily had passed on to the slumbering Prince Jules camping in the forest as a fairy near the king's military camp? I do love the stealing the lips of thy slumbering lover scenes in stories.

**Leader of the Bandits: **His self punishment for not believing in her was fighting alongside the army of Alder and her message I believe was somewhat a love confession and an oath. And it's no fun for the other party if they can't participate in the intimate act, that's just selfish.

[A tender moment occurred between the two main characters when she sneaks in his camp and steals a kiss. Lily whispers something in his ears but is unknown to the reader. During the time of lily's absence, she had recruited many birds to be spies on both countries. Before she could decide who to help, she wanted to know the exact reasoning behind the foul play of the Princess's death. The birds were also to collect all the magic dust possible as her artillery and numerous groups of them stationed at strategic places.]

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **The two missing servants were gathering magic dust for the Prince to fight but they were caught by the fairy's soldiers so how did Lily get a hold of so much magic dust? (Because that info wasn't disclosed in your marginal notes)

**Leader of the Bandits: **Being trained at a young age on military tactics, she already knew where all the magic dust storage posts were located incase of war. She even had the audacity to borrow dust from neighboring fairy kingdoms and forged the Prince's name to the debts. She fastened bags of fairy dust on an army of recruited sparrows and conducted the most effective plan to halt the war. She actually placed a heavy barrier on the fairy kingdom so that the humans never trampled on or destroyed her beloved the place she called home.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **My heart stopped beating, when the commencement of war was declared. Just as military forces were marching toward each other, Lily cast a widespread large scale spell with aged oak trees as towers indicating the four borders. And with the help of the bird army was able to scatter the dust evenly over the restricted area. She laid a heavy sleeping spell that would last for half an hour except for the exception of the two warring kings. Lily sent birds as messengers to be delivered for both to sign a treaty and grievances for the dead princess. Lily threatened both party that if they didn't sign it, she would kill off all the people and there would be no one to rule over. Both kings were still not buying it so she appeared in human form to meet with the Alder King. When she explained the planned suicide and brook aerial attack, he finally realized how he was set up to play the fool but asked for grievances for the death of his new bride.

With fifteen minutes left, she quickly met up with the Alnus King with the help of an oversized sparrow with a hole in his wing. **giggles** Her entrance didn't even scare the king so she opted for another plan which was changing her form to the exact image of the dead princess. That was when the King became serious. They argued back and forth until the King finally agreed to the terms of the grievances of offering his oldest son's daughter. His granddaughter was only fourteen but was now a bargaining chip. Just as he finished signing the Peace treaty, he noticed that his people were waking up soon. He was just about to attack Lily with his sword to terminate the treaty when Prince Jules flies in with large oversized bees and the two faithful servants to save her. **bishōnen moe appears, yippee!! claps hands!!**

Due to the treaty both had to live in harmony for a hundred years and any conflict incurred had to be resolved ASAP. **heart beating again**

**Leader of the Bandits: **You only live for these moments in stories don't ya?

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **But of course, the next scene is the tear jerker. **grabs tissue box** The defining moment in the story. Now that the climax has ended, it quickly tumbles downward to the end. Our poor unselfish Lily in the arms of her lover was returned to her original appearance and returned to her home their fairy kingdom nearing close to death. Because she had exerted all of her magic and life line to be able the cast that powerful sleeping spell, she had no more power left to live and had aged her appearance to an old fairy. The Prince cried in agony and doesn't want to witness another death finally confesses his true feelings to her. Because he was blinded by the Princess' charms that he didn't realize that he had begun to have feelings for Lily during the time that they spent together at the castle when she hid in his collar. He was also awake during her confession to him and was moved by her bravery.

The seer steps in and notices the reunion of his most prized student and playboy of a prince in a heart wrenching predication. He summons the king and queen, the royal magistrates, and people of the kingdom to declare the matrimonial union of the two before she dies. After the rites were made, the Prince also does the unthinkable by offering her half of his life line. The most beautiful sacrifice he could offer to her by stating that, "I only want to live as long as you are beside me." Prince Jules loses half his life essence and aged to a middle aged fairy while she reverts back in age to meet his. After that display of love, Lily was named the 'Wise Queen Lily of the Majestic Forest.'

The End **unending tears**

**Leader of the Bandits: **Half of that wasn't even in my marginal notes and you changed the ending to your liking. She died as a martyr and the people revered her as a saint-like idol to study about in the history of fairies.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **I think your mother would favor mines over your terrible memory.

**Leader of the Bandits: **You dare jest my memory.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **Bring it on! Say, what did you have for dinner?

**Leader of the Bandits: **Beef stew in a bread bowl and you?

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **A bowl of congee with green onions, bean sprouts and youtiao. What about dessert?

**Leader of the Bandits: **Thumbtacks. Blue ones. And you?

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **Your punishment is much harder compared to my French maid costume with cat ears. Remind me to never play against you guys in a dare. I am currently eating a bowl of red bean soup with mochi. My favorite.

**Leader of the Bandits: **I would never allow you near my friends. They cheat. That sounds like its sweet.

**Lily of the Majestic Forest: **LOL! I gotta go now. Good Night! And yes it is terribly sweet.

**Leader of the Bandits: **Sweet Dreams!

**Lily of the Majestic Forest **has logged offline.

**Leader of the Bandits **has logged offline.

Sasuke returned to the business at hand. He minimized the PM window and maximized a window from a program that he had been working on the last couple of nights. It was the encasement that she spoke of earlier but he wanted to surprise her. He had read excerpts from that diary and I knew that it would need a carved frame to match the grandfather chair. He was designing a 3-D model on his computer so that he could match measurements correctly when ordering the special wood.

He smiled just thinking about how he would get her in that French maid design he drew long ago and wondered if his plans would work out or not.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Hinata's rickshaw had arrived at the airport alongside a posh limousine parked out front the airport entrance around the early dawn when the roosters haven't even crowed the sun's arrival. Hinata was tipping the cyclist while the driver was handing her the luggage stashed on the backend of the rickshaw.

A taxi pulled up with the Manager and Chief of operations of the Hyuga mill plant there in Saigon to wish Hinata a safe trip and to send her off with a guarantee that her crates of supplies will reach Singapore as planned.

Hinata was dressed in a white sleeveless, buttoned up, tuxedo ruffled front shirt with a black, baggy three buttoned sweater, a grey houndstooth pattern capris and sleek smooth grey leathered boots. She also carried along her trusty messenger bag and was pulling a dainty luggage with pink and brown polka dots design. She bid farewell to the cyclist rickshaw driver and the managers of the mill plant before entering the large whitewashed building. Just as she stepped foot on the commercial welcoming mat out front that triggers the automatic doors to open, she was accosted by five grown men dressed like mobsters in rakish Italian tailoring.

Hinata was about to scream but she soon recognized the man with the silk nude colored shirt accentuated with white collar and cuffs, bronze colored fitted suit with the diagonal red and white tie, was Sasuke's older brother. His hair was slicked back and down. The men from behind were his friends she had met hopping around Europe together with Itachi and at his villa.

"Milady," offered Itachi as he grabbed her luggage and handed it to Pein so that he could plant a single soft kiss upon the back of her hand. Hinata retrieved her hand back by shielding it with her other hand. Itachi smoothly straightened his suit and continued, "I have made the proper arrangements so that you could travel with me today."

"I don't understand what is going on but I have a terribly busy schedule that I must adhere to. Thank you for your kind offer but I must refuse," Hinata was cut off once she saw the bargaining chip for her company. He was holding onto pictures of Sasuke and his friends dressed in High School uniforms and they quickly flashed before her eyes and then disappeared again into Itachi's inner pockets of his jacket.

Hinata's jaw dropped and she even felt a slight drool escaping from the corner of her mouth. Before she knew it, two guys had hooked their arms with hers and she was walking with them through security check and customs and then toward the open air field to board the Uchiha's private jet. She boarded the plane with a heavy anxiety but the reward looked like it outweighed the possible negative outcomes. When she was seated, she suddenly felt cheap for being wrangled in by snap shots of preppy uniformed teenagers.

Itachi sails toward her gleefully with his wicked smile and parked himself beside her. He leans in closer and just gracefully snaps a shot of the two cozy on the leathered seats with his phone. After blinding her with that surprise attack, she tried to scoot away from him.

"Aw, how cute," he teased her while playing with the ends of her hair. "She's playing coy."

"I - I'm doing no such thing," she stammered feeling very uneasy all of a sudden.

"Have I left a negative imprinted impression on you?" he asked while leaning in closer and she had already reached the dead end of the seat. They were seated on an U-shaped leathered couch and all the others were on other two sides while she and Itachi sat on one side of the couch.

Suddenly a cat jumped onto Itachi's lap and he ended up relented a bit on teasing her. Itachi's facial expression changed instantly from playful to sincere. He sighed and then he spoke earnestly while stroking the cat's outstretched wattle, "If my parents hadn't died, we would have been married by now."

"That's impossible!" she exclaimed in shock from his sudden statement.

"And they say pigs couldn't fly."

"When?"

"When you were seven or so and I was in my early teens, my parents came to your home to propose it. Your father agreed because our union would secure the many years of both our family's business' cooperative synergism. Do you remember now?" he spoke softly and was still looking at the cat.

"No," she answered while shaking her head.

"That's right I remember now, we had our first date at the grand opening of the water park. It was for us to meet as friends but you ran off just as introductions were made between your side and mines."

"I don't know what you are talking about," she answered bewildered.

"I'm not asking for much. I am just asking that you try to remember the events of that day. I'll leave you in this cabin to think about it. I have some albums here that may be of use. I'll be in the bar with the guys if you need me." With that he walked off with his friends and she still did not understanding what was going on.

She sighed and tried to relax in the spacious lounge room with a large plasma screen staring back at her. There was a modern design square shaped coffee table before her with some photo albums laid about. She was just about to reach for one when something inside her reminded her that they were the reasons why she was here in the first place. Hating herself for that moment of selfishness, she punished herself by returning her attention to work.

Hinata only knew how to escape by one method and it was by mean of another story. The only way she knew where the people wouldn't hurt her. Returning to her tight schedule she began rereading the diary excerpts that the Wei family had allowed her permission to read. She had read some excerpts before from the Chin's when she did the upholstery for the Grandfather chair.

She flipped through the copied pages and tried to find the marked page she left behind. She had taped a petal like employee number seventeen had done in the past as her marker page last night. When she finally found the page, she tried to get comfortable by reclining the chair and letting the surrounding setting instantly changing to olden modern Republic China.

From her combined notes of both families' permissible excerpts that were shared with her, it was pretty heart wrenching to cover from page to page but as she finished reading this person's life story, she realized it had to be heard. It was asking to be heard by someone. It haunted her dreams lately and it disgusted her sometimes but the pain of the diarist was asking to be heard. The diarist was asking to be acknowledged of her existence which explains the well kept aged diary.

She began her writing at an early age and at that age she had already tasted the strong variety of spices that pain could be endured and served. Her mother was a servant in the Hui family. The Hui patriarch grandfather was a retired distinguished military tactician, businessman and widowed who came from a long line of ancestors who were once royal court members and politicians. His family also had a blessing of always producing one single male heir offspring every generation to continue the family name. That blessing died after his only son had wed and his wife gave birth to a girl. To change their fortune, a servant was bought through the market slave trade and was made a concubine for the son as a second wife that entered the family through the back door to remind everyone that the true, only, and first wife had entered through the main front doors.

The concubine business was kept secret from the public and the servant was seen as a maid outside the Hui's walls but within the walls she was seen as an eyesore and forced to live in the back shed near the livestock. Her job was to cook in the kitchen but never serve the food because the son's wife deemed her of lower position compared to the house staff. It wasn't until the grandfather went blind that she became his personal servant. During this time, the son took over the family business of trade and their department stores of dried goods located in different regions. The grandfather felt sorry for the servant and asked the son to bore a child with his second wife soon or else bad luck will continue. The son didn't believe his father until he was faced by a terrible predicament. One of his most cherished transport ships full of cargo had been seized by sea pirates and demanding a ransom.

It was because of that incident that the son agreed to consummate their unlikely union and allowed her a better living quarter near his father so that she continued taking care of his elder father during his absence. The son believed that she was somewhat of a blessing because once news of her pregnancy was known his cargo-less ship was seized by authorities and returned to him soon afterwards. Her status may have been lifted a bit but to the first wife, she was still trash. The entire above introduction, was just the prerequisite to the diarist's entries.

Her story starts exactly one year after the first daughter from the first wife was born whose name was Mei, meaning plum for the grandfather's love for plum blossoms. The second wife was kept detained during her birthing so that her child was delayed one day after Mei's first birthday. The first wife didn't want the second's child to have the same birthday as her child. Since Hui junior wasn't there to name the baby, the grandfather, Hui senior named her Li, a more common name meaning plum.

Since she was born a girl and not a boy, the master never acknowledged her as his child but rather just the nuisance that came from the night he was forced to bed her mother.

Li grew up in the Hui's family as a servant and never knew that her mother was once the master's concubine. She loved the grandfather who was always teaching her how to read and write even though he was blind. He told her stories when he sat on his grandfather chair while she dusted and cleaned the spacious family room everyday.

Mei being the first born had already had a set marriage arranged with the second born son of the family that was known for their masonry, architect, and engineering feats. Believing that the second born son of that family would eventually take over the family business once her father was retired while his older brother would take over their family's business by the last name of Chin, was set to aid both family's future inheritance issues.

Mei grew up beautiful and charming. She exuded elegance and refined beauty while Li was plain and simple. Where Mei was pampered with beauty essentials and the most sought after children's jewelry and fashion, Li had a natural look with her rough hands and feet, tanned skin, and wearing commoner's attire. Li wrote about how Mei was always sought by suitors even at the tender age of twelve. When she turned fourteen, her father sent her to Europe for an extension of her education and also because rumors of the home tutor was making advances at her. She was sent to a friend of the family, the father's school mate when he attended school in England, to attend school alongside their family's children.

During Mei's absence, a multitude of changes occurred. Li's mother became a devout Buddhist follower once the grandfather became bedridden and started smoking opium as the doctor had ordered to relieve his aching arthritis. The grandfather always gave her money for visits to the temple daily and Li wasn't allowed to play with him anymore. The second wife became more secluded in her room to meditate now that Hui senior had become addicted to the pipe. The first wife was already making preparations for her daughter's wedding upon her homecoming which was when she turned sixteen and never wanted to cross paths with the second wife so she left her alone, never once bothering to notice her existence. The father, Hui junior, was always absent from the home due to the business so the first wife became the financial accountant of the house affairs.

Li was given more chores to save money and given more responsibilities like the grocery shopping and cooking. Soon the dreadful day came when the grandfather passed away but before he passed away, he made sure that Hui junior would promise to send Li to England along with Mei for a proper education and agree to take better care of his second daughter-in-law and not to be treated as a servant anymore. Those were to him amends that may allow him entry to a better next life. The son agreed to his father's dying wishes and after the funeral was over with Mei's attendance, shipped the two girls off to England under the guardianship of the famous adventure novelist author Richard Lewes of the Eddington estates near Derbyshire.

Forced to leave home, Li was packed up and sent off to accompany Mei on her journey to her second home in England. Mei grew up treating Li as a servant therefore never once allowed Li the privilege to be an equal during their trip and stay there. Once they arrived at the Lewes, Mei even introduced Li as her personal servant. Li was introduced to the widowed Mr. Lewes and his two kids: Arthur and Eloise. Arthur was the same age as Mei and Eloise was the same age as Li. Pretty soon, all three kids would bully Li but never in the presence of Mr. Lewes. Arthur attended an all boy school while the girls were sent to school that cultivated young ladies in lessons such as dance, music, arts, and etiquette.

Arthur was well known in town as the playboy with his good looks and academic achievements. Mei was soon swayed by his charms and devoted all her time with the elder sibling. Eloise soon found Li's company to be more fun and less ladylike. Together the two girls started playing pirates and spies. They rode horse back to explore new lands and even played pranks on Mr. Lewes on occasion which he enjoyed and always wrote about in his next upcoming weekly newspaper chapter publication. Whatever Eloise thought up, Li would accompany her on these strange adventures.

Soon it was time for Mei to leave and return home to marry her promised betroth. Arthur had offered her many times to run away with him but she said that her life was somewhere else. She left England in tears and came back to China as Li's mother described as a dispassionate and quiet person on Mei's wedding day to the Chin family.

With Mei gone, Li had one more year to play with Eloise as she pleased. She became more open to Eloise and closer as friends. Arthur was sent to college and left home. So the two girls had adventures after another with their new found freedom from their older siblings until one day a suitor came pursuing Eloise's hand in marriage. It was her father's publishing company's eldest son. Li soon became lonely as the new couple started courting. Li's studies continued while Eloise was absent due to her new courtship that was well received by both fathers. That was when Arthur came home one holiday a month before Li had to return home that she considered his arrival was either a blessing or a bad omen to Li.

Because Mei never gave Arthur the chance to go any further than just a kiss that Arthur was dying for a replacement of that bodily contact. He wooed Li when Eloise wasn't around and was even unrelenting at times. He was actually persistent in deflowering the naïve little Asian girl that somewhat had similar features to his love. When he did finally accomplished his goals, Li's innocent self had whispered her feelings of love to him but he instantly shunned her by telling her that he only used her for that one act of passion.

(To be continued in Chapter 17)


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**(Continuation from Chapter 16)**

A devastated Li returned home exactly a year after Mei returned home to find out that Mei's husband had already taken over the family business and had been apprenticing under Hui junior's tutelage during the years that Mei was overseas. Hui junior was soon taken ill by a disease known to the public as Malaria and confined to the back shed for quarantine purposes as instructed by the doctors and therefore Mei took control of the house. Li eventually returned to her old self as the Hui's servant and continued her old chores when she was younger. It was as if the years of English education had no weight or worth to her at all. Months few by, Li started noticing her swelling stomach and showing signs of pregnancy. Mei took this opportunity to lock Li up and forced Li to hand over her baby once the baby was born. It was a trade for both Li and her mother's freedom. Mei gave her no other choice and Li had to accept the bargain or else they would sell Li's mother away.

Mei pretended to be pregnant during her husband's absence and had the whole family and staff to play along to the whole act. Since Mei was having trouble bearing children, Mei succumbed to the appalling deed and treated Li so. Never having any feelings for her half sister, she felt that to not diminish her role as first wife, together with her mother they came up with this solution. By the time the baby was born, Li and her mother were instantly sent away to Taiwan without any postnatal care.

They were given enough money to be able to survive for half a year there but Li soon feel ill due to infection from after birth and had to find a doctor immediately. Since they were foreigners to the area the only doctor that took them in was a village doctor that was scarred due to a fire from a public riot where he tried to save a civilian. His good deed only hindered his medical career because customers didn't want a deformed doctor to heal them. He took care of them and in return the mother worked at his small practice by cleaning or collecting medicinal herbs. The doctor explained that due to Li's ailment, she was never to be able to bear any more children. The kind doctor during their stay had also become close to Li's mother. Once Li was completely healed she offered him all her money but he wouldn't take it. Instead he found her a job as a secretary to one of his past clients and that he wished to keep her mother as an assistant. Her mother agreed to the job having found a place where she can call home and feel safe.

Li moved to the city, changed her surname to her mother's maiden name of Wei and became secretary to an older foreign English gentleman who was setting up his new business in trade there in Asia. Since Li was fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, she was able to pick up Taiwanese easily and with her proficiency in English only helped the owner along with the trade business. As the years passed, the business soon flourished and doubled in pace. Due to Li's past of eavesdropping on the Hui's business affairs and listening to the grandfather's business related stories, she used it to her advantage to gain clients and steal Hui's loyal clients also. She only pitted against them on trivial business matters so that her son would be able to inherit that place someday.

A decade passed and soon the Englishman who never had a family of his own asked for her hand in marriage. She refused his offer and instead offered to be his friend during his retirement. Not taking rejection well, he refused her offer also. Instead he retired and had sold his business. He gave her half of the profits from the sale so that the money would be under her name or else it would have been passed on to his next in kin in case he died. She gladly took the money as a way of saying Thank You. He retired back to England and she accompanied him only on the journey back so that she could visit her old friend, Eloise. They parted ways once arriving there and both were grateful to the other for their existence and crossing each other's path.

Upon arriving in England, Li found the Eddington estates had become an utter disaster. It looked like the mansion was never taken care of again since she left. Li walked all over the vacant mansion hoping to find Mr. Lewes and inquire about Eloise. Instead she was faced with a bewildered looking Eloise sitting at the family table sipping tea in the dark. The once cheerful blond was in a ghastly state. Li not knowing what had happened threw the blond in a warm bath and started cleaning the once beautiful estate. She continued her stay there and her cleaning/repair until it started to look reminiscent to the old place she had once lived at.

Through the letters that came and bill collectors visiting daily, Li understood some of the problems. It seems that Mr. Lewes had an accident one night at the local bar and was caught in a middle of a brawl that left the once famous author to die tragically without a single witness to declare his innocence but instead reported as a public disturbance by a disorderly drunk killed by a pocket-picker in the written report by the police. Arthur soon afterwards went missing with the family inheritance and jewels and left Eloise with the bills even though she was married and living far away from this mansion.

Eventually feeling ashamed of her brother's selfish act, she ran away from her husband's home because her husband was always away on business. So here she was left with debts without a dime to pay and a home that had seen better days. Li took it upon herself to pay the debts left behind by both Mr. Lewes and tried to help her friend to come back as her old adventurous carefree self. Li turned the place into a Bed and Breakfast and had an able staff by opening day. She renovated and decorated to fit the country manor look. The locals were always talking about the exotic foreigner who resides at Eddington estates and some even welcomed back the girl that once lived there among them. She stayed caring for Eloise for two years until a letter arrived that mentioned the retrieval of Eloise to return home to her proper place as wife of the publishing company's President.

Her husband told everyone that she wasn't feeling well and needed the fresh air of the countryside to aid in her recuperation which would explain her long absence from the big city. Li encouraged the young man to make haste and explain himself properly to his wife. So she concocted a plan that would help both find solace in the other.

She had booked the place to vacate occupants on one particular week and laid out the most outrageous scavenger hunt. The items were objects that reminded the other of their once pure and innocent courtship. Seeing that Eloise hadn't spoken much to Li since her arrival, Li gave her a written letter of challenge and the winner to take possession of all of the estate that had been turned into a lodging establishment. Eloise may have been depressed but she didn't lose her Lewe's pride. She read through the instruction and scavenged the first item. At each post, was a riddle to the next item and so one and so forth. So, if there was no riddle than it meant that Eloise had picked the wrong object. Some were love letters from their courtship and some were gifts from their newlywed period. One was a dress Eloise had made for a dance they attended together that Li found in the storage. An umbrella from when they went walking along the trails in the woods one day and they somehow mysteriously were lost for hours. A handkerchief that he once used to dab the blood from her scratched knee and to today still had remnants of the bloody stains.

The last item was a riddle to find a place that kept her heart engraved for all who happens upon it. Eloise knew exactly the place that engraved her heart. It was the old oak tree that Eloise and Li had played at many times before and had long ago carved their names with the person they loved within a heart. So Eloise came toward the tree hoping to find a comforting Li but instead was met by her husband waiting for her to return to her old self, the one that he had fallen in love with long ago when his parents by chance had pointed out the tomboy riding her horse through town accompanied by a foreign Chinese ward.

Li had to visit one more place before she could find a place and retire. She went back to her childhood home to seek her son. She only wanted to see how he was doing but as her curiosity grew and her longing grew also. It started with drinking at a teahouse every morning to catch a glimpse of him walking to school. She found out from the locals that his name was Tao and he was known to be quite studious with strange bewitching eyes. He had inherited his father's hazel colored eyes.

She sat at the teahouse every morning that she knew was a school day for about six weeks until she was caught by Mei. Mei had accosted her at the teahouse one morning and asked that Li removed herself from her sight. Li begged Mei for just one meeting with Tao but Mei refused. Li then feeling troubled and anxious somehow without thinking followed Mei home and kneeled in front of the double doors of the place she once called home. Mei not wanting to stir public rumors and opinions had Li dragged in by the servants and had them beat Li with a switch from the plum blossom tree in the back garden. They had held down by her limbs and she was beaten by two staffers to be bloodied and unconscious.

She was beaten and thrown out the same back doors that her mother had long ago walked through intended as a concubine and solution to the Hui's family fortune. She was taken in by the Tao's nanny who was hired long ago to breast feed him. She instantly knew who Li was by her facial features that were similar to her young master. From the nanny during her healing, Li discovered that Hui junior died and rotted in the shed that his daughter had holed him in and the shed was later burned down. It was rumored to the public that the retired business man went for a walk and mysteriously his remains were found in the burnt shed. The nanny also informed that the first wife of the master had gone mad afterwards claiming that his ghost was haunting her. She eventually died from malnutrition because instead of eating her daily rations, she offered them to her dead husband who was following her around.

The nanny also informed Li that Mei was meeting with Tao's English tutor every night which Li knew instantly the identity of the teacher. To hush the staff about her affair, Mei would occasionally offer to sell her belongings to them for a small price. The nanny also returned to Li the letters that she been sending her son whom she didn't know his name the past twelve years. The nanny lost her child around the time Li lost hers so the nanny understood Li's pain. Tao's nanny also was vigilant to receive the mail daily upon her scheduled work days. Before Li was completely healed from the beating, the nanny had set up a meeting for the mother and son to finally meet.

Upon their meeting, she found him to be shy and quiet. He was beautiful with his lovely white skin and colored eyes. He had her hair, pink thin lips, and slender nose. She wanted to hug him but feared that he would run away. Instead she shook his hands and wished him a prosperous life. With that she finally felt at peace with her life. As she walked away crying and holding in her sobs for fear that he might hear them, he had ran after her to give her a handkerchief and ran off with to meet up with the nanny. The handkerchief had his name embroidered on it: Chin, Tao Li. Meaning was probably meant as handsome plum. Li even forgave Mei for everything that was wrongfully done toward her because to Li it felt like it was Mei's way of asking for her forgiveness. Li Wei then discreetly purchased the entire available Hui family heirloom that was sold off to the Chin's staffers.

Li afterwards went back to England to find her old boss. She found him in the countryside in a beautiful renovated castle near the sea. They married on a beautiful spring day among new and old friends along the shore line at a small chapel. They had a content and blissful marriage. He died of old age first years later and she continued living and aging gracefully to a ripe old age. Before she died, she had set an inheritance that wasn't to be given until Tao Li Chin was a grandfather. Tao Li Chin had tragically died before becoming a grandfather. Tao Chin had two sons and when both sons were old and grandfathers, they were met by overseas English lawyers presenting them with an inheritance that shocked the family and discredited the Chin/Hui's family tree/history.

The inheritance included her long detailed diary/story, the returned letters she had sent their father long ago, the handkerchief their father had given her as a child, the lost Hui family heirlooms that she purchased from pawn shops, half ownership of a Bed and Breakfast English estate, a large sum of money, rights to a castle that is currently used as a tourist attraction and managed by a well known English Publishing company, and a large land in Taiwan that could be used as a medical practice and fields for medicinal herbs.

During the Revolution, the Chins had lost an incredible amount of their fortune and business. The remains that were salvaged from the war dwindled down to the one cargo ship, one port warehouse, and about six department stores and a half standing house that was destroyed by the people. Tao's two sons were able to survive with money made from selling the ship and warehouse. They both lived in the house with their families trying to make due with what they have. It wasn't until the inheritance came before them that split the family up. The Chins remain in China with their growing department store turned chain grocery stores and the other brother changed his name to Wei and moved to Taiwan to meet with an old apprentice of a once scarred retired doctor. The inheritance was fought over for many generations. The Chins believing that they had rights to it had many times declared that Mei their ancestor had been a devoted wife and the diary dishonored their family name. No one ever knew the truth because there were always two sides to the story and the blind truth that lied buried beneath people's memories.

From the two notes taken from different projects, Hinata was able to combine them with the research she made at the registry office and interviews with historians. She was able to piece together a story that deserved to be heard. Now Hinata had to make sure that her handiwork matched the love that Li described when writing about the patriarch who long ago played with her while sitting on that chair.

Sasuke carved nature scenes with one chair that had a prominent Lily blossom and the other a Plum blossom swaying in the wind. The sparrow was etched in the small setting table that sat between the two chairs. The five elements were carved along the rest of the chairs. Her cushioned upholstered removable seating was embroidered with two plums grown on one branch. Both were beautiful but one looked riper while the other was younger. The excerpts from the journal back then that Hinata was allowed to read was when the two girls were growing up in the Hui home. Both were born one year apart and into two different social castes but both faired two different paths that were just as equally painful in love and in life.

Hinata wanted to incorporate the plum blossom again on the tapestry and was glad that she spent some time researching the history books.

She put away all the copied papers of research and diaries into her trusty messenger bag. Feeling a bit more satisfied with her findings and rough draft genealogy tree with lots of side notes, she felt more at ease to focus on the task at hand. She was supposedly looking through the photo albums placed before her. She picked up one book and turned to the first sleeve sheet. She was faced by a memory that had been buried deep inside her for so long. Hinata suddenly collapse backward onto the couch before the album had hit floor.

Itachi walked in and said sadly, "I won."

Sasori entered after him and argued, "No, she was in this room for a total of exactly seventy-eight minutes before picking up that album. From the time that she picked up that album to the time she fainted, was a total of fifty-four seconds. Our bet was whether she would faint before she got to the last page or afterwards and she fainted after the first page."

Kisame walked in and repositioned Hinata so that she would be more comfortable on the couch. He picked up the album and showed everyone. He informed, "Strange girl went straight for the last page first."

"Are you serious?" choked Deidara on the discovery. "I lost due to a technicality like that."

"Oh look, I have a text from Neji," announced Itachi.

It read:

**From:** NEJI

**Subject:** Target moving

**Sasuke booking flight. He looks furious. Let's have some drinks once we get to Singapore. Over and out. **

"Another incoming message," commented Itachi.

**From:** HANABI

**Subject: **Done

**Kiba just finished fixing the loom. We'll see you boys in town later.**

"I feel so loved today!" exclaimed Itachi.

**From: **NARUTO

**Subject: **You suck

**Now we are short one and haven't even employed newbies yet.**

**From: **GAARA

**Subject: **

**Think big, huh. My yatch?**

Itachi looked up from his phone to Pein. Pein noticing Itachi's inquisitive look had already knew the answer to the questions, replied: "Next flight out would be the seven fifteen, replacements for the café are on their way, Mr. Hyuga, Mrs. Inuzuka and Mr. Aburame have just landed there, and all arrangements are ready for launch date."

"Excellent," complimented Itachi.

The guys left Hinata sleeping soundly on the couch and she was replaying several moments in the past that had been puzzling her. Her unconscious mind was definitely trying to unearth something being held back by repressed memories.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**Lost Memory**

"Why can't we go play something else besides doing this today?" asked Sasuke sitting in the back compartment of the limousine still dressed in his tennis attire from his Saturday morning tennis lesson. He was grouchy and staring out the window. He was upset that Itachi didn't want to hang out with him today because of some family duty he had to attend to.

Sasuke tagged along after his brother invited him to partake in the function.

"Why are we doing this again?" asked Sasuke but this time he turned around to face his brother.

Itachi was dressed in a loud Hawaiian print buttoned up shirt and khaki linen high waters that loosely ends mid-calf. His hair was pulled back into a pony tail and he had this smirk on his face that was pretty annoying sometimes to stomach because it always made Sasuke feel like he was being made fun of.

He finally answered, "I am meeting up with a young lady today at the Grand Opening of that new water park establishment near that shaved ice booth we always eat at with mom and dad after taking a walk on the bridge."

Sasuke looked confused and mumbled, "I don't understand. You said earlier that it was a business matter that mom and dad had asked you for a favor."

"I just have to make an appearance for our family sake."

"But why with a girl? Why are you gonna kiss her?"

Itachi choked on the remark and had to cough several times before he could reply back in a composed manner. Once he was calm again, he turned back toward his dear little brother, who had just turned eight last month, and answered, "Why do you assume that kissing is involved? Where did this idea come from?"

"Mom and dad are always sneaking one here and there like they can't get enough of it and."

"And you have been rummaging through mom's books again, haven't you? I told you that you are too young to read those books. Just because you have inherited mom's comprehension and love of literature, doesn't mean that you are mature enough to grasp it."

"Have you kissed before?" he asked innocently and Itachi just about wanted to hug him instead he patted him on the head.

"Someday you will experience a kiss that will be truly amazing and unforgettable."

"I'm eight give me a break," Sasuke replied as he removed Itachi's hand off his head.

Itachi just smiled at his younger sibling's precocious self.

They soon arrive at the large white building in the middle of the city right at the appointed time. They were greeted by Itachi's classmates awaiting them out front and they had already made a crowd with the older teenage girls hovering about them. The six guys all entered the establishment together without checking in at the ticket gate to eventually meet up with the party that was awaiting them inside at the food court as planned.

They entered the men's locker room with their assigned lockers and began to change into the proper swimming attire. Itachi had packed a long black trunk for Sasuke while Itachi and his friends were wearing swim jammers and Swedish style goggles to match their personal color coordination.

As they were leaving the changing room, they headed for the food court as planned. Sasuke was feeling a bit anxious as to who this girl might be. He wondered if she was pretty like his mother or tall and slender like his mom's models. Just as they rounded the corner, they spotted four little kids around his age sitting at a table.

The kids immediately stood up to welcome their guest and Sasuke at this point was beside himself. The boy that introduced himself as Shino was sort of like the mediator for the introductions with his monotone speech. He had a hi-top fade hair do with circular tinted specs and Sasuke soon realized that he attended school with these two boys. The second boy had unique markings on his cheeks like fangs and sharp looking eyes like a canine. Definitely a unique appearance by all means thought Sasuke of Kiba.

The introductions then fell upon their two female companions. The first was a shy girl who was hidden by an oversized beige zippered sweatshirt and twiddling her fingers behind Shino. She was introduced as Hinata and Itachi immediately went forward to claim a kiss on her hand like in the movies. Sasuke instantly understood that she was the perpetrator for Itachi's attendance today. She quickly seized back her hand and hurriedly ran off. Her party seemed unfazed by her rude departure. The next one was a small child with long brown hair holding onto Kiba's hand was introduced as Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister. Sasuke felt that she had eyes that could see right through him and he shivered from the thought.

The introductions continued onto Itachi's side and they all eventually shook hands and seated. Just then Neji walks in with a tray of drinks and he noticed Itachi and company, "It's about time you made it. Want a drink before we hit the waters?"

"No thanks, oh Neji this is my bother Sasuke and Sasuke this is my colleague, who I have been corresponding with lately between our two companies while I'm apprenticing under our parents." They shook hands and the party was then moved to the cabanas near the wave pool that was designed to look like a real sea shore.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in the flowing waves splashing about. The sun shone from the glass windowed ceilings and Sasuke suddenly realized that for a grand opening; why were they the only customers?

"Don't be surprised later but I invited some your classmates to join us," said Itachi from one of the cabanas lying face down while an attendant was rubbing oil oh him.

"I told you before that those monkeys are noisy and why did we rent this on their opening date?" asked Sasuke while he was sitting at a chair facing the pool.

Itachi sighed and proceeded, "Relax, enjoy. Sometimes you are just too uptight for someone your age."

Sasuke did a slight scowl and walked away because he could suddenly hear Naruto's presence and his friend's voices echoing toward them. Sasuke explored the indoor water park and checked out all the features and attractions it had to offer.

Suddenly he saw a figure moving about and then entering the room with the signs indicating 'Olympic sized swimming pool.' There were signs that read: Private use only, Do not enter, and Beware: Swim at your own risk. As Sasuke entered the double glass doors, he was surprised by the size of the pool and large towering diving vault. As he walked further inside, he noticed that the only lights on were the ones inside the pool so the overcast blue wavy reflections against the enclosed storage looking building walls were actually beautiful to look at. It was as if he was standing inside a marbled square shaped house.

He then spotted the hooded person and realized that it was the same girl that ran off earlier. She was dipping her feet in the water to test the temperature and she was quickly answered by her sudden reaction. She yelped softly, "Cold, cold," and then she walked toward the benches. She unzipped her jacket and removed the outerwear. She was dressed in a navy sailor collar design halter with matching boy short swimwear. She then pulled her hair back and pulled a swimming cap over her hair. At that exact moment, Sasuke couldn't understand what she had to be embarrassed about. To him, she was really cute.

By the time she was done, she walked back toward the starting block where she stood earlier to test the water and ended up slipping on the puddle of water that she herself had made earlier also. She fell flat on her butt as if she had slipped on a banana peel and sent her body airborne within seconds and landing with a thud within less than a second. She stood up and was already stumbling on the starting block.

Sasuke smacked his right hand palm first on his forehead, scrunched up his face, and then sighed. He couldn't believe that she was this cute but was awfully clumsy. He ended up blurting out, "Stupid!"

She must have heard him because she looked at his direction. He started walking out toward the pool so that she could see him better but her nervous expression and unbalanced body motions only made him feel awkward. Just as he said, "Hi," she had already fallen in the water.

He ran toward the starting blocks to see if she was ok but there was no movement or sounds. By the time he looked inside the pool she was sinking incredibly further below quickly. Sasuke swiftly without thinking dived in the pool and went straight for the girl. She had sunk so far down that he was even having trouble going further down. By the time Sasuke reached her, he grabbed onto her waist and began swimming upward.

Once above the water, he tried to search for a way out the pool and saw the side in-pool ladder. Somehow he managed to get her weight to lean on his back while he climbed the in-pool ladder. He gently laid her down and started on the CPR. He found the area between her breastplates and pressed down with both of his hands. She had already started spitting up pool water and breathing. He leaned in closer toward her mouth and realized that he had only seen Itachi do resuscitation rescue with girls at the beach so he was practically winging it now.

He lifted her head and inhaled a large amount of air. He leaned in to transfer the air and opened her lips with his. Somehow during the whole act of CPR and the frantic feeling of saving somebody had completely left his brain. The slight moan coming from her mouth only made him a bit woozy and he had to close his eyes as he continued tasting pool water.

A few minutes later he heard a faint Naruto asking in the far background, "You hid in here just to make out?"

Sasuke looked up at the boy and then down at the girl. Soon Itachi walked in and started ordering everyone around. He sent Naruto and Pein to carry the girl to the infirmary. He then grabbed Sasuke hands and led him away from the dark blue room. They bid farewell to everyone and he explained that Sasuke wasn't feeling well. They changed their clothes and finally he was dragged in the limo.

"Are you ok?" asked Itachi finally feeling that the time was right.

Sasuke laid his head down on Itachi's lap and asked, "She's alive, right?

Itachi laid his hand on Sasuke's forehead to check for a fever and asked, "How did it taste?"

"Like pool water. I think I even drank some of her spit."

"Want some shaved ice? I'll get your favorite green tea flavor."

"No, thanks I don't feel too well right now."

"I think you are just seasick."

"Will it get better?"

"Yes." Itachi smiled the rest of the way home while ruffling Sasuke's hair.

Sasuke slept peacefully all the way home and never spoke of the incident again. It was as if he was dreaming about the whole incident from earlier and he couldn't recall the awkward CPR or saving someone's life.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**Lost Memory II**

"Miss Hyuga, where are you off to today?" asked the kind aunt who had been teaching Hinata hands on to produce authentic fabrics spinned and loomed by earlier methods done by hand. Hinata had been staying at her home in the countryside of the outskirts of Konoha.

"I found some flowers I wanted to pick. I'll be back soon," she hollered back toward the kind teacher while waving her arms. She was riding an old bicycle that was hitched to a flat bed trailer with railings and loaded with large wicker baskets and garden shears.

Hinata loved the wide open fields and farmers who resided out there. The restrictions from the city and her family were lifted once she arrived here. She had been pressured to uphold a refined ladylike performance in her home and even in the public eye. Her friends had even been pressuring her to change but she had willfully rebelled against the idea. Sometimes she just wanted to disappear and vanish. Maybe her diminished existence wouldn't bother anyone, she had always believed.

She rode the bike down the wide dirt roads past the local market and school buildings. She was dressed in a white sun dress with spaghetti strings and straight smocked bodice. She also wore a large brimmed straw sun hat and pink jelly bean slippers. She was looking for the babbling brook that she remembered seeing long ago having distinct red flowers. It was so beautiful that she plucked one on her way to a funeral and offered it the couple that used to visit her family home many times when she was a wee child.

She was twelve now and still in the process of learning the ropes and skills required to be an official artist for the family business that her father had spoken many times about having her take over once he retired. She would rather follow than lead any day. She then went off the main road and traveled on the weeded fields toward the forest and meadows. It was mid-summer and the sun shone brightly in the afternoon hours.

As she rode further down the beaten path, she could finally hear the sounds she was searching for. It was the sound of rapid waters flowing along a rocky brook. She got off her bike and walked the contraption along with her. She was enjoying the view and taking in the sight.

About a half an hour into her walking, she finally found the field of red spider lily blossoms. Red as far as the eye can see. The delicate weeds strived near the brook and bloomed only this time of year. She smiled at her new found discovery and grabbed a basket and shear. She walked through the field and was completely delighted at the feeling of being engulfed by the beautiful scenery. She soon drops the shear and hat inside the basket and began running through the field wildly dancing about. It felt as if she was a floating fairy princess and was sprinkling magic dust all over the field to produce more flowers.

Her intoxicated moment of magic was soon lost due to a small accident. She tripped on something and went flying on a soft cushion. She was knocked out of breath and had hit her forehead against a hard object.

Trying to refocus her eyes again, she started to feel around for her surroundings with her hands to see what happened. Her cushion was slowly becoming visible as a boy and was currently unconscious. The object that made her trip was a leathered bag near his feet on the ground. The hard object that struck her forehead must have been his because his forehead was slowly showing signs of a rosy bruise.

She was sitting on top of him and exasperatedly exclaimed, "Great Gatsby! What have I done?" She started slapping him lightly on the cheeks and poked his chest. The black haired boy was slowly regaining consciousness.

He growled a heavy tone, "Who the Karamazov did this?" He was trying to sit up and she didn't know if she should get off him or not. Her fear particularly made her stay put thinking that she could just head butt him again if he was to harm her. She leaned in staring at his awaken expression and he was now returning his stare at her.

They sat there for while until she finally bravely asked, "Are you alright?" She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and started dabbing his sweating face.

He slowly closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned into her and said sadly, "I miss you, mom."

Bewildered and confused she started patting his back and said softly in his ears, "I'm sorry but I am too young to have kids."

He instantly pushed her off of him and stood up brushing the dust off his clothes. He was dressed in a dusty white buttoned up shirt where the sleeves were rolled up and the black vest was left unbuttoned. He had nice slacks that had seen better days and black shoes that were caked with dried mud. He picked up the black jacket that he was lying on and started dusting that too.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered frightened by his reaction. "Are you hurt anywhere? I have a bike and I could take you to the local physician."

He narrowed his eyes on her and said to himself, "Noisy." He picked up the leathered bag and started walking away.

She didn't know what to do. She had hurt him and now he was angry with her. She just aimlessly followed him and staring at his back. Every step he took, she took a step. There was about two yards distance between them but she could still see and hear each step he made. Soon it became a game for her. When he quickened his step, she would do the same. When he slowed down sluggishly dragging each step, she mimicked the action. It was like a game and he kept leading her around the vast field of red flowers.

It wasn't until she tripped when he had picked up his pace and fell flat on her face that he turned around and started holding in a chuckle. He had to put his hands on his mouth to keep himself from exploding and suddenly it was as if years of laughter that was kept inside finally was able to free themselves from his control. He was rolling on the grounds and tears were stinging his eyes.

She was amazed at his reaction to her clumsy butterfingered foot work and smiled thinking that she had finally cheered the boy up. She rolled over and started staring at the wide open skies before them.

He pointed to the sky at one of the moving clouds and commented, "That one looks like a badly drawn rabbit stealing eggs from an ugly tree trunk."

Hinata giggled seeing his point and added, "If you look at it from my angle, he looks like a hunched troll greedily eating from a big pot of stew because he didn't want to share it with others."

They both lied there for awhile and occasionally voiced their strange descriptions of the passing clouds.

Hinata suddenly sat up and looking alarmed began running off. The sun looked like it was starting to set with of the changing of colors in the sky. She was supposed to cut the blossoms for her new dye that she had been working on. She ran around looking for her misplaced wicker basket with the shears. Suddenly a hand had grabbed her hand forcing her to turn around, he looked worried also and asked her, "Can I help?"

"I was supposed to have collected baskets of these blooms before they wilted away. I wanted their color for my next project but the sun is going to go down soon and I don't know if these blooms will last tomorrow for me to cut them then."

He looked up at the sky and then at her, "With two more hands, I think we can knock off half this field."

She was beside herself because he was a total stranger. He had already started yanking at the blooms ripping them from the stem. She followed suit and they were at it until they found the misplaced basket. They filled the basket with the ones they had already pulled up and she ran off to the bike to grab more baskets.

They worked until the moon was up and all the baskets were full. Both their stomachs were growling and she invited him over for dinner.

"Won't your parents mind if I a stranger came to eat?"

She smiled and reassured him, "I have a studio in the back that you can sleep in tonight and I'll explain to everyone that you are my special guest."

Not looking very sure of the invitation but seeing that he was hungry, he was game even for that.

They rode on the bike while she sat on the carrier section on the backside of the bike. He gave her his bag and jacket to hold while he pedaled. She wore the jacket and wrapped the messenger around her shoulders hanging from her back side while she clung onto the back of his vest for support. She gave him directions of the dirt roads and pointed out all the landmarks of the humble country village.

They finally made it to her teacher's house and to Sasuke's surprise they welcomed him in like an old family member upon Hinata's words that he was a special guest. The kind lady and her husband didn't have any kids so the two were treated like guest of honor. Sasuke ate like he had never eaten in days was shoveling food in his mouth. Both full to the brim at the end of the meal, started cleaning up. Hinata noticed that Sasuke wasn't much help at clearing the table, offered him the bath.

She cleaned up while he took a long bath. By the time that she was done, he was out dressed in the husband's striped buttoned pajamas. She showed him her work studio and where to sleep. She had a futon prepared on the floor for him. Soon he lied down and went straight to bed. While he slept soundly she went straight to work on the red dye. She worked all through the night until the roosters had startled her sleeping guest.

He walked over to her sluggishly and asked, "What is the meaning of this flower?"

"I don't know but they look sad. Their leaves would wilt first and then the bloom."

"My brother told me at our parent's funeral that it meant that you would never see them again so people often use them at funerals. But to me before the funeral, I thought that they were weeds growing along the ditches and riverbanks of the city."

Hinata smiled and changed the subject, "Look. That entire bed of flowers that we had picked yesterday and this is all that I could make." It was a small pot and the red liquid was a rich color and stank from the chemicals.

She took off her apron and asked, "Ready for breakfast?"

He looked puzzled for a bit and started scratching his nape. He finally replied, "I called my brother last night using your house phone and he should be here soon to pick me up."

She felt a pang of pity for him suddenly and said while grabbing his hand, "If you ever want to run away again, don't be ashamed to find us."

"Alright," he answered and pointed at his clothes to change in the house.

Later a limo had arrived and both were standing outside saying their good byes.

He asked embarrassed suddenly, "Can we continue some type of correspondence with each other."

"Yes, but only as friends."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

She looked sheepishly and answered blushing, "Someday."

"Then good luck with that," he patted her shoulders.

"Thanks, I'll need it. Oh, here is a parting gift. It's a spider lily that I had salvaged last night and started the pressing stages to it. Try to keep it safe in a book, kay." She handed him a flat envelope.

"Thanks but I don't have anything to give you. How about my bag?" he asked while throwing the contents in the limousine. He then shoved the messenger at her and she accepted with a smile.

"Thanks, this way I'll always remember you when I trip," she said humoring their strange encounter.

He waved good bye to her awkwardly and got inside the vehicle. Just as the limo drove away, she started running along the car and hitting the window. The limo stopped and he rolled down the window.

A little out of breathe, she asked, "What's your name?"

He looked pensive for a bit and then answered, "I'm known as the 'Leader of the Bandits' and you are known as the fair maiden 'Kaguya-hime.' Since I can't have your heart, I'll take you as a character from this book." He lifted a small red book and showed her the empty pages that weren't even filled with words. "Whatever happens to us in the future, I'll transcript the ending to the story that has no ending right now. How does that sound?"

"Then Good Luck to you too."

Once again, they bid farewell and the limo drove off into the distance. Hinata never heard from him again and returned to the all girls' school in Konoha to continue her stalking behavior to a blond that was always surrounded by a moody guy who was always returning her stare.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**Another lost moment in time**

Sasuke walked around making sure not to bump into anyone he knew especially the girl that he had a date with tonight even if he couldn't recall her name. He thought that maybe he would check his cell phone later. It was usually the one that had left the most messages on his cell's missed call list. He walked carefully so that no one would try to figure out his identity. He hated being stopped for useless chit chat.

He just finished performing his side of the dare when he lost a bet to Naruto in a friendly game of rock, paper, scissors. But Sasuke could have sworn that Shikamaru had already become familiar with his patterns of throwing the random gestures. Sasuke was feeling a slight foul play was his demise when it came to his good for nothing, lousy friends. Even now at a mere sixteen and a half years of age worth of wisdom collected, he was still falling for their tricks.

He passed through the noisy and packed halls full of the school's cultural festival's pedestrians. He had already survived the second day of the festivities. His class made onigiris and was instantly sold out once his brother played a part in it. While waiting for their replacement crew and the next batch to be delivered, Naruto insisted that they play that ingenious gesture game. He sighed from just thinking about it because they intentionally played him so that the basketball club's presentation skit became doable with a mascot.

Glad to have survived the crowd without any delay to his destination. The place where he can relax and not even Naruto can annoy him there. He grabbed for the door knob and let the sense of relief take over. The room was dark and quiet which also bought him comfort. His school's library was old and had a distinct musty and antique smell. He loved the smell of the old oak and cherry wood.

As he walked past the large librarian desk, he suddenly spotted an intruder in his safe domain. First instinct was to stare at it long enough until daggers pierced their being and splashed blood everywhere so that it was to set as an example to the next fool that dared trespass his sacred sanctuary. Annoyed that the person couldn't take the hint of the lights off and 'Do not enter' sign plastered at the door wasn't enough to detour their sense of direction.

Upon closer inspection, it was a girl sleeping on a chair against the open window. He could tell by her bag that she attended the all girls' school and he assumed that she was there for one of his peers. Her face was slightly covered by the sheer curtains flapping about to the wind's playfulness. Even the cherry blossom petals had the audacity to float into his place of refuge and littered the shiny wooden floor.

He was mad just looking at the disarray of books lying about on the table beside her. As he walked closer to the table, he was amazed that they were his beloved classics that he had read as a child. He had to admit that his trespasser was soon becoming somewhat worthy of her presence there. She was gripping a handkerchief with the initials 'HH' embroidered on it.

The design was what caught his eyes. She had meticulously stitched a somewhat similar design of a Leonardo da Vinci's journal sketching. He had to give her props for taking on such a detailed and laborious design. There were even mirror-image cursive writings similar to the dead artist's penmanship that Sasuke was absolutely impressed with. Sasuke deciphered the note as: My name is in reference to the sun and its warmth but I do not portray the character's orientation instead I prefer the shadows that the moon shelters.

Sasuke took a quick peek at her face and recognized her as the girl that had confessed to his friend earlier. She had long dark bluish hair and long eye lashes with skin as light as a ningyo Japanese doll. He looked out the window and saw what it was that she was looking at. It was the perfect spot to spy on his classroom's onigiri stand among all the vendors lined up on both sides of the school entrance walkway. He understood rejection very well for he had been hurt before and somehow was sympathetic to her heartache.

She started stirring from her sleep and woke up suddenly from the jolt of her head hitting his thigh. As she slowly looked up at him standing beside her, she gaped at him with her jaws dropping to the ground and eyes as wide as the moon. He couldn't help but smile but inside he was dying to laugh at her reaction.

Then she calmly spoke with assurance, "I'm ready."

"For?" he asked bewilderedly and looking around the room for signs that might aid in his strange predicament.

"For you to take me to your time and assist you in your quest to save the world," she said straightforwardly while looking directly into his eyes. At this point he was sweating bullets and wondering if she had lost her marbles due to the rejection. He wondered if he should play along or just slowly walk away.

"I'm just joking, Mr. Ninja Mascot," she informed while pointing at his get up. He had forgotten all about the ninja costume that covered him from head to toe except for his eyes. He had to admit that the girl was becoming more interesting by the minute.

"I had to admit you almost got me there," he confessed candidly to her while he wiped away what little pride he had left. He snickered just thinking how gullible he was there for a second and then he let out a slow sigh.

"But if you were a ninja from a different world who traveled here to find help and knew that I had any type of power within my reaches, then yes take me with you. For my time here is of no worth to anyone," she said in a melancholy tone and earnestness. She had a way of pulling at his sympathy cords, an emotion that he rarely used.

Thanking the heavens for letting him lose to Naruto and disguising his identity, he didn't want the girl to know the current Casanova behind this masked assassin dressed all in black. He was about to share with her a part of his past that he hasn't visited since he closed it. "Let me share with you a story from my past. Long ago before I became this excellent shinobi of the hidden village, I was a pure hearted child learning the ropes toward my ninjutsu education. I had a loving family: beautiful and talented mother, a hardworking father and a brilliant brother. But all that changed when my parents passed away due to an unavoidable misfortune, my brother and I were forced to continue their legacy which was becoming competent legendary ninjas."

He then grabbed a chair and positioned himself beside her and continued, "One day I felt that I couldn't handle the stress of being a ninja anymore and all my conviction of following in my parent's dream was gone, so I ran away. I only walked as far as to the bordering small village of farmlands. There I found a field of red flowers and decided to rest from my long journey. When I awoke, there was a beautiful village girl with short hair dressed in a white yukata. For a moment, I thought that I had gone to heaven and met my mother at a young age but I was wrong. Embarrassed from my judge of mistaken identity, I rudely walked away."

Sasuke smiled suddenly and recalled, "Unexpectantly, she had followed me and soon we were talking about subjects that didn't have anything to do with ninjas, weapons, and training. It was refreshing for me. Eventually she fed me and sheltered me that night and I realized the foolishness of my escape. I had to return home to become a proud ninja so that someday I could come back and make her proud too. Well you see when we departed she had expressed that she didn't like me and wanted to be friends instead. That was the story of my dreadful rejection and the drive that got me here today. Just because being a ninja was hard didn't mean that I had to master all of it. I just eventually realized that I could specialize in one field of the ninja arts."

He looked over at her and saw that she was smiling bemusedly and then the smile became harder for him to watch. What she was doing was holding in her laugh and didn't want him to feel bad. Eventually the entire guise fell through and she was cracking up laughing and slamming her palms on the table. She was laughing uncontrollably and holding onto her stomach. It also looked like she was about to pass out from laughing so hard. He was a little hurt from her reaction but he was glad to see that she was feeling better even at his expense.

"I'm sorry," she finally gasped and said, "I'm glad I ran into you today." She sighed contently. "You are right. Things don't always happen the way you want but as humans we make do with what we have." She looked at the books that she had pulled down from the shelves and were now spread across the table. "Don't you wish that your life was like a story?" She started stacking the books to return them to their rightful places.

"Not all books end happily," he replied while starting another stack.

"But as a reader, don't we have the option of using our imagination and seize their destiny to one of our preferences?" she offered while walking away toward a shelf.

"Then we would be cheating the author of his royalties and credits." He was already on the other side of the dark library squinting for the catalogue codes.

"BS, we pay for that entertainment and escapism."

"Say, what would you consider as an ending for a couple that was doomed from the beginning?" he asked while walking past a book with similar features like his mother's unfinished storybooks.

"Hmmm, I can't decide between love that last beyond death versus sacrificial love."

"I like those themes too but I was thinking along the lines of love surpassing even the grave."

"I don't understand the difference between beyond death and grave."

"Beyond death would be like one dying for the other or both dying for the other. I was thinking of an ends to a means kinda like being buried next to your lover by fate because the irony was that when they were alive they never had that chance to be near each other."

"That is cruel."

"Definitely unusual, it caught your attention though," he said slyly smiling as they passed each other up.

"Then please make it entertaining so that I may want to read it."

"I'll be sure to never publish it so that you may not have your heart broken."

"Tease," she said while sticking her tongue out at him.

Just as he was about to reply back, he heard his brother's voice coming down the hall and knew where its target objective was. He whispered, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." He hated ending this conversation but he really didn't want his brother to find out that he was the mascot. He placed his index finger over his mouth to hush her and then waved good bye. She had this look of complete understanding and smiling even as he ran off.

He quickly exits the room by way of the storage room and then out the small window. He then lands on the second floor balcony and braced himself as he ran through the manga/anime club's cosplay café. As he avoided cameras, his only thoughts were that she was too good for Naruto and that he forgot to grab his change of clothes and phone. Now he had this outfit to wear and also miss out on his date.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

The sequence of sounds that played over and over was a series of key tones and then one loud snap, key tones and then snap. This rhythmic melody was driving Mr. Orochimaru crazy and was completely annoyed to the point of breaking his usual self composure. His forehead was scrunched up and every snapping sound heard made his fingers automatically twitch.

He was just about to grab the offensive electronic device from Sasuke's grasp when someone else had already beaten him to the deed. Mr. Kakashi had confiscated the cell phone and explained to a devastated looking Sasuke, "Stop looking at it! It won't change anything."

Both Mr. Orochimaru and his newly named partner to the law firm, Mr. Kabuto Yakushi was both sighing from relief to Kakashi's heroic feat.

Despondently Sasuke leaned back on the leathered seat and clarified to all in the moving vehicle, "I just have this feeling that maybe if I look at it again, I might find something that will help me somehow."

"While driving us crazy," snapped Orochimaru. "I swear for someone dressed in formal traditional Japanese attire, you lack the distinction and honor. Wear your family crest proudly for today so that you may prove to them that you have become a man. A late bloomer but a man none the less, so show some dignity."

"In other words, buck up kid," advised Kakashi smiling.

"That means you too," lectured Orochimaru pointing at Kakashi's sloppy appearance with his no tie, messy hair, and a grey suit that was practically thrown on loosely resembling a street hustler from the seventies.

Both of them looked at Kabuto and understood why the man was always so pristine and well reserved in appearance. Kabuto was repositioning his silver eye glasses with his middle and index finder. Again they both nodded in agreement of also the man's anal idiosyncrasies.

Sasuke was feeling anxious and nervous about this whole situation that fell on his lap suddenly out the blue the other morning. Itachi had sent a picture of him and Hinata together with the subject: congratulate us. Then minutes later receiving a text that read: please attend the marriage acceptance meeting to discuss the dowry for H.H. Sasuke dropped everything and went in search of assistance immediately. The people he knew that could help him now were his family's personal lawyers and his master. He didn't have a sturdy plan yet but they were gonna enter the establishment and hopefully wing it from there.

Enclosed with the text was the address to the meeting located in Singapore. Luckily he was able to arrange flights for everyone to drop everything and assist him knowing that Itachi was of no help to him at this point. He hadn't thought about marriage but at this very moment if he had to choose than she would be his only choice. The thing is, with his brother's involvement now, only speed up the matrimonial stages for him. And right now if he played his cards right, he could have that privilege of winning it all.

He thought that it was strange that morning when Neji came to visit the café and explained that he was asked to come back from his post in America to participate in his cousin's engagement party and press conference to officially announce the union to the public. Whatever his brother was planning, he was definitely caught in the trap.

They drove up to a five star luxury hotel and he instantly knew which restaurant was rented for this auspicious occasion as he stared up at the spherical rotating dome above the towering building. With the target in sight, they were ready to face their party in the sky. The four marched in with as much confidence as if they were on the front line of a battlefield. To him, Sasuke felt like they were gangsters entering their opposing gang's turf.

They rode the elevator and while listening to the classic American show tunes, he regretted that he couldn't have the rest of the 'rag tag team' be there to aid him. But since the business was busy and with one man down, they were in hot water themselves. Sasuke knew that they would forgive him later but right now at this very moment their usual noisy camaraderie could have helped ease his anxiety. And also they would have played wonderful gangsters to back him up.

Once the elevator chimed the opening door bell, he inhaled slowly. As the doors opened up, he exhaled what felt like an eternity of carbon dioxide exiting his mouth as he began his stroll toward the possible chances of fate had to offer: to an unfathomable doom or an eternal blissful happiness. Whatever cards or dices that were going to be thrown at him, he hoped lady luck didn't fail him now. As he walked closer toward the restaurant entryway, it felt like time was completely against him by slowing his every movement and lengthening the path further from the door. The apprehension of what was behind that door was also eating at his insides.

They were greeted by attendants awaiting their arrival and opened the double doors for them. As they walked in further, they noticed the place had been rearranged or in other words gone. The only furniture left was a long white covered table with short legs and the seated occupants along the table sitting seiza style on mats. From one side starting at the other end was Hiashi, Hanabi, Hinata, Neji, and Mr. Aburame. On the other side starting from the furthest, was Mrs. Inuzaku, Kiba, Itachi, Gaara, and lastly Shino. All were dressed in formal kimono except for Itachi's more flamboyant Osaka print haori that hung over his shoulders. The seated were all staring at the four intruders standing before them.

At this very moment, he was also wishing that he had bought his matchmaker Mr. Asuma along but he was on his honeymoon somewhere and no where to be found on this god forsaken earth. He wanted a strong introduction and lasting impression on her father but words failed him now.

Mr. Hiashi spoke first breaking the silence, "What may be your business here for intruding on our private gathering?"

Sasuke bowed down lowering his pride and when he stood upright again, he began his proposal.

"I deeply apologize for my rude intrusion and for any inconvenience imposed upon everyone here. My name is Sasuke Uchiha and my purpose today is to ask Mr. Hiashi for his daughter's hand in marriage. Among all the candidates here, I might be the dark horse but let me have a fighting chance to offer you a better candidacy."

Kabuto was already on the move and situated himself behind Mr. Hiashi with his briefcase open and ready to present the prepared documents to the elder gentleman.

Sasuke continued, "Let me present my omiai resume to you." A portfolio was handed over to Mr. Hyuga and he politely opens the folder.

"It details my extensive educational background, my past and current occupation, my current income, and religious preference. A short profile is included about me with data on my hobbies and personal interests." Hiashi reads attentively through the pages in the folder and Sasuke takes a quick glance at Hinata who was biting her lower lip with a rosy blush slowly appearing on her cheeks. Her hair was swept up to the side with a flower ornament pin and he knew instantly that he had to have a good fighting case to be able to be with her.

"My next presentation is my medical records. It details my personal health, past medical history, proof of my blood lineage of the Uchiha name, and proof of my uncontaminated blood of any diseases." He looked down and saw Dr. Shino's surprised thumb's up and Sasuke only slightly smiled at his support because he was still only halfway done.

"I also have here my mentor, Master Kakashi Hayate if need be to vouch for my character and employment at his company." Another portfolio was brought forth with copied certifications, proof of identity, record of his employment there and the latest company's fiscal year annual report.

"And lastly I present to you my assets and stock portfolio. It shows in detail the last twenty years of my impressive and aggressive stake on the stock market. This alone will guarantee your daughter's financial well being in my care. My assets also include a one fifth share of my entrepreneur endeavor in a small retail business in the service industry." A bulky file was placed before Mr. Hyuga.

"And lastly my final presentation to win you over let me introduce you to Mr. Orochimaru. He is my family's personal lawyer and the sole legal representative handling my inheritance. I shall be the beneficiary of an unknown inheritance. Everyone here must be curious as to what this mysterious inheritance may be. The inheritance won't be awarded until I am married. That was what my parents had set aside for me. Well I have here a registration for a marriage certificate ready to be filled out and completed by both party's consent and as the ink dries, Mr. Orochimaru will disclose the details of my inheritance. Be it money or personal object; if it piqued your curiosity please allow me the honor to have your daughter's hand in marriage."

Sasuke slowly kneels down on floor and bows down respectfully with both his hands and forehead touching the floor. Just then Kabuto had presented a marriage registration already signed by Sasuke and a small red velvet jewelry box sitting above the application. Mr. Hyuga clears his throat upon the sight of the readiness and persuasiveness that Sasuke has just presented to all in the restaurant.

He finally answers, "You are a very capable man to wed my daughter but I am afraid that you are too late for I have already agreed to her first choice."

Sasuke looks up and saw the seriousness in Mr. Hyuga's rejection. His heart was already racing throughout the whole speech and now it felt like it had broken and he couldn't feel it beating anymore.

"Because this is an intimate meeting to prepare for my younger daughter's engagement and wedding festivities so I cannot hand her over to you but offer instead my eldest daughter who is available for marriage and I would like to have her consent also."

Everyone was looking back and forth from Hinata and Sasuke. Hinata being now completely red and holding in so many questions, stood up suddenly and exclaimed, "Who the hell do you think you are? Barging in like some ape man demanding this and that just because you could flaunt your money. Your final persuasive point was an inheritance. Urgh, the nerve of you."

She started walking over to him but because she had sat in that seiza style position for so long that her legs gave out on her mid walk. Luckily Sasuke finally coming out of his daze caught her mid fall in the dipped position of a dance. She continued, "Throwing your social status and medical records at us like you are some kind of perfect being to be impressed with. You think that you bought me with that silly proposal. Oh no sir." She said all that while waving her index finger around.

He hushed her by placing his index finger on her trembling lips and said, "No, all that was just to present to your father but for you I lack the confidence needed to carry you over my shoulder right now and get us married at the nearest registration office. You strike fear in me, cause me to have anxiety, and even make me bashful at times. Do you know how uncertain I am when it comes to you? The fear of your rejection alone could cause my heart attack right now so don't think that this is easy for me. When it comes to you, I notice that I do things that I can't explain myself. It's like you have a power over me. Just knowing that you were in love with my friend was enough to make me unsure of what this emotion is that bubbles inside me when you are around. So don't ever think that I know what to do either." He then lifts her back up to the standing position.

"Then yes, I accept your offer," she declared while his arms were still around her waist.

He leans in closer and asked, "So I upgraded from friend to instant fiancé?"

She nods her head bashfully.

"And you are over that blond already?"

Again, she nods her head.

"So, what do we do now?"

She shrugs her shoulders and answered, "I've never been engaged."

"I guess we'll take it one step at a time." He leans in to complete the transaction of their agreed union. Everyone in the room clapped and cheered to the two completely immersed in each other's company. This time Hinata's kiss didn't taste like lobster but instead like the sweet taste of mandarin oranges on a cold winter day.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"This is big," commented Itachi.

"Custom made and five hundred feet of steel," boasted Gaara of his new toy as he knocked on the steel railing to produce a sound that proved its strength and worth.

Itachi waved his hand about and asked, "All this from textile?"

"Actually my family is also in the petroleum industry but don't tell anyone," said Gaara grinning and then he took a sip of his champagne.

"You are a threat to be reckoned with. I'm glad we didn't pit you against Sasuke for the girl because you would have won hands down," humored Itachi and both continued admiring the vast sea before them as the ship sailed further away from Singapore.

If Itachi ever had to explain when he had a hand in the whole Sasuke and Hinata union then he would probably have to be described as the mastermind from the very beginning. Ever since Sasuke was old enough to walk, he was always very attached to Itachi. Because of that Sasuke never made friends or tried to socialize with others. So Itachi took it upon himself what he considered as 'spreading the love plan.'

Even at a young age Sasuke already showed signs of talent in fashion but he didn't enjoy it. It was like he preferred the background work of a stagehand rather than the actual artist who adores the spotlight. And when their parents died he became more introverted.

When Sasuke turned eight Itachi and his friend Neji schemed for Sasuke, the more confident and articulate child to meet Neji's cousin Hinata, the shy and stuttering problem child of his family. They both used a type of reverse psychology to get the other on their side to attend. Itachi used the 'I'm meeting a girl' versus Neji's 'she can play in the private pool as long as she greeted their host.'

Of course the reversed outcome occurred. Hinata came home with a new crush and Sasuke came home without an ounce of memory from that day at the water park. With that backfired results 'lets make friends' deal didn't work and Neji never teamed up with Itachi again. Also he was then promoted to the North and South American Operations Division of Hyuga Textile in his company and Itachi rarely met up with him since.

As Sasuke attended school, Itachi made it his goal to sell Sasuke off as an idol. Sound strange but he really did sell pictures of his little brother to both boys'/girls' high school when Sasuke was only attending middle school. Itachi even invented rumors of the cold and scary tough guy persona around so that people were always afraid or dared to challenge his little brother. It was Itachi's tactic to gain friends for his precious brother.

You could also say that Itachi had the ideal surveillance on his brother. With his friends and Naruto's help Itachi was literally never far from his brother. Soon Gaara joined in and that was when it became interesting. Even when he had to travel far away Gaara always sent international updates about his brother and their bizarre pranks.

Hinata soon played a large role that took Itachi some time to piece together. When he finally realized who she really was, he took full advantage of her position. He teamed up this time with Hanabi and the ball began rolling along more quickly. She was more calculating than Neji and knew both of their weaknesses which Itachi was completely impressed with. She let Itachi play the perfect villain and even had Gaara join in on the fun as pursuing bachelors after Hinata.

It was when he fumbled on the old pictures of Sasuke that he went about implementing the last stage of the plan and calling all the big guns for this one. Had Hanabi and Kiba go ahead with the wedding plans and have it scheduled in Singapore when Kiba was there reconditioning the antique loom. Asked Gaara for the use of his new acquired yacht as the setting for the engagement party and Itachi was there as the requested fashion designer for the couple.

Since he was in Vietnam purchasing the expensive silk from a rare new breed of silk worm, he thought it was time he clarified to Hinata the truth behind her long one sided crush's identity. The three pictures that Hinata happened to look at on the plane were the three incidents where she had crossed paths with Sasuke. The first was a clear surveillance shot of a wet little boy trying to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on another wet little girl in a navy sailor bathing suit. The second was shot from inside a limo of a little boy standing outside dumping things out from his leathered bag into the limo with a little girl in white standing behind the door. The third picture was a sleeping teenager half dressed in a ninja costume grinning blissfully.

Itachi was never engaged to Hinata or was ever offered her hand in marriage. It seemed that long ago Hiashi was also an admirer of the once famous teenage Kabuki actress named Mikoto. So the relationship between both parents, were always strictly business.

Neji walks in on the two standing on the private top deck and announced, "Its about to start guys. Get ready for your speeches?"

"It's a speech that he has been dying to make," chimed in Gaara.

"Oh you guys are going to love the slideshow I have prepared," drawled Itachi.

As they walked out the room, Neji joked, "Between you two, I don't know who is more dangerous but I do know that I would never step on either of your feet." With that, all three laughed.

They walked past Kiba and all congratulated him on his engagement and left him waiting in the hallway outside of Hanabi's room. He knocked and she finally allowed him entry. He walked in and saw that she was standing before the mirror and still hadn't zipped up her dress from the back. She was wearing a bluish grey mermaid style gown and strapless sweetheart neckline with her hair neatly tied up. He walked up to her and slowly zipped up her dress as he inhaled her freshly applied perfume on her nape. He whispered, "Lets skip the party. I'm sure we can find other entertainment on this ship." He left a trail of small kisses starting from one of her shoulders to her back's sensitive area between the shoulder blades.

She moaned just faintly and finally was able to speak, "My pearls please."

"As you wish."

"You don't mind sharing our special day with my sister?" she asked as he slid the heavy cold beaded necklace around her neck.

"She deserves it just as much us," he said as he leads her toward the vanity table and bench. He sat down first and sat her on his lap.

She wrapped her arms around him and asked, "Do you think that we will ever regret helping them get together?"

"It was destined so. Even your father had said that when Hinata chose the paintbrush long ago, she was only following the path of one of your ancestors."

Hanabi trying to reassure herself continued the theory, "It is an old clan legend that once an elder child chooses the paintbrush that they would be cursed or destined to relive that once tragic ancestor, who was killed in the hands of bandits on her way to be a royal embroidery artist. We were always afraid of her health and safety which may have caused her to be sheltered and overprotected. But miraculously she got to live a life full of adventure and romance."

"Maybe because she had a demon spirit and a couple like us that lent a hand toward her blossoming into what she is today."

She giggled and recalled, "Remember when father was choosing her marriage interview candidate? He was so shocked to see the son of his first crush grow up to look just like her and went along with the whole deal."

He laughed too and reminded her, "Yeah and they both stood each other up for that interview. Maybe it was written all along that it was going to end this way after all."

"I still remember when father was awestruck from meeting him in person at the Centennial party and Sasuke confronted father to rescue Hinata from his stern lectures."

"Your father was probably amazed at the resemblance between his looks and the late Mrs. Uchiha. I don't think I have seen Hinata shine like she did that night."

"That was a magical transformation for my sister. She must have had some very good Godfathers," she said smiling and leaning in toward him to continue where he had left off earlier.

Across the hall in a different room, was a loud and noisy Naruto boasting to Hinata about Sasuke's past. Sasuke with his arms folded and face twitching ever so often was seated between Hinata and Naruto. Hinata was asking some terribly curious questions about Sasuke's adolescence and Naruto was evidently embellishing their glorious days of fun together.

It wasn't until Naruto spoke about the taboo confession that Sasuke interfered, "Don't you dare ask her about that."

"What? I have the right as the one confessed to in wanting to know the details of her crush on me. I'm right huh, Hinata?"

Both turned toward Hinata and saw that she had turned beet red and Naruto took the hint and slowly walked out the room and bowing occasionally to the two on the bed. He finally waved good bye and was gone from their sight.

Sasuke didn't know what to do with her now that she turned away from him to hide her embarrassing face and past. She was dressed in a pink satin puffy skirt cocktail dress with a strapless fitted bodice. She covered her shoulders with a white crocheted scalloped sweater.

He finally spoke while looking at her back, "I don't care what happened in the past. Just as long as your current heart belongs to me, that is all that matters. So don't think about that guy anymore just think of me and I'll"

"About that crush," she confessed slowly, "I kind of mistook his identity for someone else."

"Huh, how is that possible? You have a different crush for someone else?"

"Well, you see," she said while walking toward her brown leathered bag and fished out some pictures and showed it to him. "My crush started when I was rescued by a boy at the pool. A pool located in a water park and rented by your brother and Neji one day long ago. So, the person in this picture is the one who I should've had a crush on."

She then points at the surveillance shot picture of Sasuke doing what looked nothing like CPR. He had forgotten all about his first kiss and the sensation of soft lips that mesmerized his senses that day. A feeling that he had thought was a dream from long ago. What any hormonal curious boy usually dreams about without the distinct taste of pool water.

Completely at a loss for words, she pointed out to him the second picture. She reminded him, "I still have that bag."

"Let me see it," he ordered and she, looking puzzled, grabbed the leathered messenger bag for him. He put down the stack of pictures to see if she really was the country girl from back then in the white dress.

He took the bag from her and turned away so that she couldn't see what he was about to do. He dug inside an outer pouch and slid his hand underneath a small lift at the seams to retrieve an old folded note.

The note was a life plan checklist which read:

_**Life Plan**__:_

_Graduate top of the class_

_Make one friend_

_Self discovery journey_

_Write a book_

_Excel in a profession_

_Be an entrepreneur _

_Find a place to call home_

_Fall in love _

_Die after a fulfilling life_

It was a list that he wrote long ago on his twelfth birthday when he received the bag from Itachi as a gift. He had asked his brother to buy it after watching an action movie about a treasure hunter, who was in search of a lost ark. He folded up the note and replaced it in the bag and hoped that someday he could revisit his youth again.

"You don't trust me?" she asked a little curious of what he was inspecting.

"Its not that I don't trust you, I just wanted to see if my life had met all the criteria I had dreamed about as a child. It was a simple note that I wrote to myself long ago," he explained as he pulled her closer toward him to steal a kiss. He then laid her down slowly backward on the bed still connected at the lips. He nibbled on her lips and she giggled softly. He slid his wet tongue traveling down onto her neck and collar bone and then blew gently on the wet trail. Instead of giggling this time, she whimpered just from that cool sensation.

Lying right beside her was the next picture of him sleeping in the ninja outfit and instantly he recalled the library conversation. He looked back at her closed eyelids and said softly, "Can I take you now?"

Her eyes fluttered for a bit and then looked into his eyes and replied, "I was taken by you long ago?" They continued their kissing but were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

It was Kiba, who came collecting the second couple for the presentation speech that was already halfway through and their presence were needed for the main affair. Both couples descended the stairs at the right moment when their names were announced. The presentation ended with a hitch and the party continued through the night.

Finally an instrumental rendition performed by the orchestra of "Eternal Flame" was played and Sasuke and Hinata opted for a dance. On the dance floor, Hinata took this opportunity to ask, "So, if you wrote the ending to that story why did you leave the other half of the book blank?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you purposely read my mind or we were just ironically thinking about the same thing. You see when I wrote that, I was not a happy person but now that I have you to lighten my world, I'm going to change the ending to a happier one. How about that?"

"Hmmm, I was thinking of continuing it as their love had transcended to another generation like having their descendants in the future fall in love with each other."

"Nice. Maybe we should write about us?"

"Even better."

"Don't you ever wonder what I wrote on your back?"

"I have a feeling I already know the answer."

"Oh, do pray tell."

They paused during the dance and she whispered, "You said on that day whatever happens at the end, remember why I chose the Leader over the General. I think at that exact moment you wrote: Follow me. Didn't you?"

"I'm starting to think that you are too good for me now," he whispered back and they returned to the dance.

The party's hors d'oeuovres was catered by the "Orion's Belt" and the most talked about dish was the "Piece of Heaven" cake in the shape of a shot glass and drizzled with tart and a dash of cinnamon that the boys had named in Hinata's honor. Because of the cake, the rumor running around the ship was that Sasuke caught Hinata licking his business's window display while others argued that to catch the bachelor the shy wallflower opted for an extreme tactic to get his attention.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter** **23**

**Epilogue**

"Mr. Uzamaki, can you tell us how you invented this particularly interesting latte art double leaf presentation? That method you just showed us is remarkable and even seeing it three times so far still amazes us here at the studio on how you poured that with such ease and skill. Can you tell us how you came upon it for we would love to hear about its ingenious design?" remarked the morning talk show host while corresponding with Naruto via satellite at the Orion's Belt café shop no. 1 in the Konoha downtown district. A camera zooms in on Naruto in front of the barista bar smiling cheekily in a sleek white buttoned up tux shirt and long crisp black apron covering his black slacks. His name tag was pinned crookedly on the knot of the apron's tie strings with the engraving: Naruto Uzamaki, 1/5 owner.

Naruto excitedly answered toward the camera facing him, "Well the other four owners of this establishment and I came up with the idea one week before my entry at the European Barista Contest. It was to compliment a painting hung at one of the other owner's new house and how all five of us aced a project in High School with the aid of the actual leaf pair. Kinda like a commemorative deal that all five of us concocted together as a prank of sorts but eventually became a worthy ideal for my presentation."

The T.V. screen splits to focus on the interviewer also which then asked, "Is it true that you won second place in the Latte art presentation division by pouring milk foam in the same way earlier that would present two leaves instead of the popular one leaf that has always been done in the past for the contest?"

Naruto nods his head sheepishly and answered, "Yea I kinda wished that I won first instead though. It was an honor to be among such great folks in this kind of career and I got a taste of the competition bug now so hopefully next year I will return with a better art display." He started moving his fingers energetically to show the audience at home his eagerness to win next time.

The interviewer continued, "So what are your plans now that the Orion's Belt has become a famous chain in Japan? Do you plan to market in other Asian countries as well or maybe even further elsewhere?"

Naruto answered, "Right now all of our apprentices have their own apprentices so as long as that continues we will always have more Orion's Belt coming to your town soon." He points at the camera as if imitating a hand gun being shot with his thumb acting as the trigger toward the audiences watching at home. "Every new five protégés that graduates from their apprenticeship may partner up and open a new establishment. Every establishment requires those five occupations to fulfill the operational needs of the franchise: barista, pâtissier, carpenter, computer technician, and creative marketing artist."

"So skills and experience is needed for each managerial post in each field?" asked the host.

"Yes the harmonious concept was agreed upon by all five of the original owners toward a franchise to be open for business. We still come around to check up on the different cafés around and enjoy the different takes of what we had originally designed of the place. Like this one has a slogan known as, "Come to the treasure in the stars." Some of the other slogans are just as witty and clever so each place is more representative of the five managers to express their different approaches at managing their own business interpretation."

"That is great to hear and we do hope to see more 'Orion's Belt' opening near us too. Thank you very much for your time and we here at the network hope that your business prosper as always."

Naruto bows at the camera and soon the camera has a full shot of the inside of the café zooming out. It showcases the new management and employees dressed in the same uniform as Naruto walking up to stand beside him and they all ended the segment with, "Welcome dear customers." They all sincerely smiled at the camera lined up in front of the barista bar and the scene ends with the website address to visit on more information of the establishment.

The television screen then went blank because Orochimaru had turned it off.

Orochimaru sighs as he returns his attention to the board game on the table before him. He looks up at Jiraiya and spoke, "You haven't made a move yet? Didn't your godson offer any kind of inspiration toward your next move during his interview?"

Jiraiya was staring at the board game intently and finally answered by changing the subject, "Since your kid's problems were solved, what am I going to do about my kid?"

"Your Godson is none of my concern. I still thank the heavens for that day when Sasuke called for assistance and allowed me the honor to witness his proposal. I could die having fulfilled my duties."

Jiraiya looked upset by pouting his lower lips but the conversation changed its course when in walked Asuma and Kakashi.

"How about some mahjong instead of this board game that way we can join in also," commented Asuma. Both Kakashi and Asuma pulled up two more chairs at the small table with a 'Gomoku' (five in a row) game still in progress.

"When is the baby due?" asked Jiraiya to Asuma as they all stared intently at the board game.

"One more month," answered Asuma. "I was thinking of asking Shikamaru to be the Godfather."

Kakashi points at an opening on his corner and Jiraiya took the hint to place a white moku piece there starting a new strategy in the corner. It looked like the black moku pieces had took charge of the game by dominating most of the space but the whites were actually even numbered to the blacks.

"You mean Shikaku's kid," commented Orochimaru. "What does he do for a living? Is he anything like his dad?"

"You haven't heard. He is one of the five owners of the café," clued in Kakashi.

"Actually, he wrote that famous program used at the café," answered Asuma. Asuma then taps at an intersection on the board that looked inviting to Orochimaru. "He was a lazy kid back in High School that used to come by my house for the use of my old archaic video games."

Jiraiya smiled for he knew the truth. Shikamaru designed the program for the café which he soon trademarked and sold to many companies but not to his competitors in the coffee shop industry. His program was easy to use with touch screen access became a hit in the service industry. He soon won an award for his innovative Point-of-sale software for any kind of food and beverage operations. He soon teamed up with Temari and they both built a system with the latest state of the art hardware equipment. They are now the proud owner of a new solutions company catering to any type of business of operations and management. It had also been rumored that Temari and Shikamaru have been engaged but Temari still denies publicly that the unique rare black opal ring that she had just acquired is not an engagement ring.

The replacements at the café during the engagement that made it possible for Sai, Naruto, Shika, and Chouji to board the ship were asked to be full time employment. Which now made it possible for the five entrepreneurs having more time to themselves to do other projects and resume a personal life. Pretty soon the window display was taken down and replaced with a 'To Go' type of window. The Orion's Belt also had an overhaul in business strategy. The new employees were apprenticed under all five to learn different skills and eventually this led to opening more cafés and licensing trademark. Each Orion's Belt had to have the following skilled professions to be able to manage it.

The new slogan was "Come to the treasure in the stars." Sai continued making small business cards similar to Hinata's stellar maps and had it passed out to special customers to place them in more books. The cake "Piece of Heaven" became a specialty hit and was sold out every day. The compartment books soon became more varied due to the different artists at each location producing them now. The batch Sasuke made when the place first opened soon became a rare collection sought by many. The last book Sasuke made was the one he gave Hinata long ago. The business soon became a chain and all five guys became rich businessmen. They even made it on the cover of the Entrepreneurs business magazine. Soon the other four guys, each made it on the "Japan's Hottest Bachelors" list.

Naruto got to go on some popular talk shows to showcase his talent in latte art because he took home in the recent European Barista Contest – second place in milk foam latte art division. Actually it pretty much took all the guys to come up with the strange new art that Naruto introduced to the world his now famous pouring technique that would produce not one but two leaves. He called his art piece "Two of a kind" and talk show hosts soon were spreading the love about the real inspiration of the rare leaf pair. Soon Naruto's face was seen in gossip magazines with the well known Uchiha brand name blond model.

Sai enjoyed working on Hinata's little star maps that he went into marketing. It started with inventive billboard ideas and than media commercials. Soon he was directing commercials and music videos. Eventually he started his own production company and producing for independent films. Then when he wasn't satisfied yet, he went back to what he really loved the most and it was anime. The first anime he produced became successful overnight and the most watched day-time romantic, comedy, and action fantasy show for kids on television. Soon it was speculated that Sai was talking to the main character's voice actress known for her pink hair.

Chouji's "piece of heaven" cake became so popular that he introduced more to the public. Woman couldn't believe that the gentle red head giant had made such wonderful sweets and treats that they nominated him for the next "Bachelor Japan Show." He was called in to be the newest bachelor on the show and he wowed the audiences at home with his charms and singing ability. He even made a hit on the internet with the most hits on his televised scenes singing Broadway tunes. He became a household name and the proud new husband to a young lady that absolutely adores his French kitchen skills and chubby appearance.

Kakashi relaxed on his chair while watching the two old men clashed their wits on the present board game. He finally spoke, "Say, Jiraiya how are the two authors doing and when are they publishing their next book? I am dying for the new installment of their romance novels."

"I believe they are working on the story about the Wei's and trying to get their approvals on many of their ideas. All the character's names have been changed for privacy purposes and the ending has been changed for that purpose also. Won't you be disappointed that you already know what the story is about?" asked Jiraiya of Kakashi's involvement with the Wei's recent art pieces in collaboration with both authors.

"Actually I like the pair as co-authors. They are very compatible. He focuses on the drama aspect while she tones down his dark elements by fluffing and lighten the mood. They are like a perfect duet to an old cheesy love song. They leave the audience feeling nostalgic and wanting more," explained Kakashi.

Asuma agreed, "Yeah, they are like two halves of a whole. Their collaboration for that novel entitled "Follow Me Always" was compared to the classic "1001 Arabian Nights" and other classic 'love transcending the time' genre types of novels. I actually loved that story and hoped that it continued but I guess the happy ending was the desired outcome to the tragic lovers."

Orochimaru also added, "What I loved the most from the book was the cover illustration. They chose dried pressed flowers for the cover. A white Iris flower as the front cover and a spider Lily for the back cover. One meaning "Undying love" while the other often represents "never to return." In other words, they were trying to express 'with death, there is rebirth therefore love will always continue it's cycle."'

Jiraiya places a new moku and chimed in, "Even love can surpass time and death and live on by the written words through the memories of others."

All three at the table agreed to the retired novelist's take on the illustration.

"I liked the pun on their pen names," said Kakashi smiling when he first laid eyes on the hardback and instantly knew the identity of the authors.

Orochimaru placed the last moku and announced the game's impending end by making a five moku in a row. Jiraiya began putting away the "Go" game pieces and looking upset at himself for not focusing. Orochimaru marked in an old black book the win loss count on their age old rivalry accounts and continued the conversation, "Iris Shirayuki is befitting to the girl. Shirayuki means snow white and the flower iris could be a pun on the English word for eyes. So in other words her chosen pen name was a pun on her white eyes."

"His chosen pen name is Jiro Kurohoshi which means second black star. It could be a figurative take on him being second born and star representing his business. I am assuming maybe the black is for his eyes. Kinda like a white versus black concept on the co-authors' collaboration and the complimentary opposites of both. I like the puns on both names and witty symbolism," complimented Asuma.

Kakashi opened the mahjong box containing all the tile pieces and laid them on the table. He leaned in and casually asked Orochimaru, "So, what was the mysterious inheritance that my apprentice bequeathed on his wedding day?" His eyebrows moved up and down inquisitively and Orochimaru lifted his in annoyance to the question.

The elder gentleman dressed in an informal kimono with a sweater wrapped around his shoulders cleared his throat and finally answered, "It's actually a long story that I really don't know where to start. Hiashi's very first crush on a famous Kabuki actress when he attended his very first Kabuki play. It was the popular play about a blind girl that was cursed by her spirit lover. The scene that stole his heart was when the actress was dressed in a Chinese wedding bridal attire awaiting her husband sitting on the bed inside their bed chambers. The backdrop was dark and the background music was soft to gain the momentum of the approaching intense scene. She had this beautiful simple headdress (phoenix crown) and a deep red embroidered square veil covering her face. When the bridegroom enters the room and removes her veil, Hiashi fell instantly in love with the actress with the porcelain skin and bewitching eyes."

"She stared straight forward toward the audience portraying the blind heroine while her bridegroom falls on the floor due to a sudden heart attack. The makeup done on her face was flawless as described by Hiashi himself. Being blind, the main character thought that her husband had shunned her and went to sleep elsewhere but she never knew that he had died at her feet. Hiashi thought the moment of the unveiling was the most enchanting scene he had ever had the honor to behold. He kept that unveiling scene to heart and when his elder daughter was younger, retold to her the bewitching scene that captured his heart in the past."

"Hinata being an apprentice at the time, took the veil scene to heart also and made it her first project to present to her father. She worked night and day for months on an embroidered red veil with a dragon and phoenix design for the borders and an array of peach and pink impatiens. Hiashi was so proud when she presented to him her accomplishment in his honor and she not understanding the weight of the gift. He was so touched with her sentimental offer that he decided to offer it to his unrequited love's offspring because she had already passed away."

"It was supposedly a gift to the one that married first so Sasuke beat Itachi to it. I had a feeling that Itachi already knew what it was and had planned it for Sasuke all along. Hiashi made me promise to put the gift under their parent's name in the guise of an inheritance. The whole thing blew me away when Sasuke calls me almost two decades later to propose to the daughter that had made the gift long ago. Strange how things worked out."

"Suddenly I don't feel like playing Mahjong anymore. Something this momentous should be accompanied with some liquor of sorts. Lets go play some afternoon golf, maybe a public bath and then bar hopping just us four and also we can congratulate Asuma for his first new born coming soon. How about it guys?" offered Kakashi.

All four agreed and left Orochimaru's condo flat for the day in the town with the boys. As they rode on the elevator down, Kakashi suddenly remembered something and said to all in the elevator, "If Sasuke and Hinata actually attended that marriage interview, my beloved story would have went a completely different path."

"I guess, the cycle would have just continued onto the next generation," answered the usually quiet and retired lawyer.

All the guys in the elevator laughed to his comment.

Somewhere in the Pacific Islands, were some really handsome rakish younger gentlemen partying it up on a yacht. Gaara and Kankuro were throwing an intimate soiree for their sister's surprised engagement party. Shikamaru and Temari were pranked onto boarding the yacht for a family vacation but was surprised when everyone beside Naruto were in attendance for the affair. Naruto actually had the hook up for flying in later with some late boarders. The Rat Pack were there and partied hard. They came dressed in ornate Egyptian inspired jewelry to accentuate their gold colored swim wear and white plush robes. Kisame even took some underwater photos of everyone swimming and distributed the shots afterwards as a parting gift. The Rag Tag team were also missing one more member who was at the moment celebrating a different occasion. He was pardoned for his absence because Hinata called in a favor for all the years her husband had lost due to rigged challenges.

Hinata and Sasuke teamed up after their own engagement to finish the tapestry for the Wei's grandparent's seventy-fifth anniversary. It was a sheer silk woven screen that Hinata had embroidered a Spring scenery to match the grandfather chair. It had an aged plum tree in full bloom as the focal point. She incorporated lilies swaying and sparrows flying about as the borders. The encasement that Sasuke built was of dark teak wood and carved with similar designs to the chair. The tapestry was the last commission under the Hyuga family business' name for Hinata was pardoned from her role as heiress and the honor was passed onto Hanabi instead. Kiba and Hanabi took over the family business and then Hanabi became the new clan head. Shino was appointed head medical practitioner to the couple after his father and Hiashi retired. Neji got to return to Asia and was promoted to Vice President.

One year later after the engagement party on the yacht, Sasuke and Hinata were married at the castle that was once renovated by the Wei's ancestors. It was a small affair with all their close friends and family. Sasuke designed a wedding dress similar to the Southern gown she admired at the French villa during the Royal Procession without the fur trim but was replaced with a Victorian inspired crocheted trimming. They said their vows promising each other to follow the other always. The much talked about incident from the reception was when the 'Rag Tag Team' and the infamous Rat Pack did a dance off on the dance floor to hip-hop music. Of course the Rag Tag Team lost because of the Rat Pack's ingenious street moves and choreographed dance routines won the crowds. Even Sai's break dancing and Chouji's famous crunk moves didn't persuede the crowds attention.

Hinata never had to wear the maid outfit in front of the store to pass out flyers instead Sasuke made her wear it on their honeymoon. They purchased the late Aunt's old home that was once Hinata's teacher and had their honeymoon there. They loved the place so much that they eventually renovated the place to a larger ranch there with a large field full of plum and mandarin orange trees. Inside the home was full of furniture made with love and pride. The focal art pieces in the house were a pair of leaf painting, a red wedding headress display, a giant world map with thumb tacks, an encased shadow-boxed embroidered handkerchief, and the window that Hinata had licked long ago.

They had a library built that they are filling up with books slowly. Inside the library shelved a secret compartment book with a dried pressed spider lily and a white iris. The white iris was from when he entered the secret underground path in a hunt inside a maze. And every year during the late summer they always remembered to visit the field near the babbling brook where two kids long ago innocently played an imitation game that was like a dance where one lead and the other followed.

Sasuke and Hinata eventually finished writing his masterpiece and had it published under the collaboration of both their pen names: Shiroyuki, Iris and Kurohoshi, Jiro. Both used puns on their names like Hinata's white eyes to flowers and Sasuke's black eyes to stars. "Follow Me Always" became an instant hit and was on the top ten best selling list for three months. It detailed their interesting relationship from the water park all the way up to their engagement meanwhile weaving the story about the bandit and fair maiden embroiderer. Of course they changed the names of all the characters so that they were protected as well. All of Kaguya's short stories were the main attraction in the novel. The book was dedicated to Mikoto Uchiha and the star-crossed lovers. Soon a famous shrine on the net was made in honor of the couple at LOTB dotcom. A hosted website for people who loved the tragic lovers and secret admirers of the Leader of the Bandits.

It wasn't until they were approached by Hinata's father that he exposed the family tree to them. The tree proved that Hinata was truly the descendant of the fair maiden's sister who was the clan's leader long ago. Sasuke then had to explain that his mother had always told him this story but he never thought that there was an ounce of reality to it. Itachi and Sasuke researched the family genealogy reference books and were surprised that their father had always been very meticulous with the family's ancestry records which put their family in direct lineage with past royalty and infamous criminals.

At this very moment at the Uchiha Plum blossom ranch, Sasuke was returning home from discussing with his editor and lawyers about the upcoming story that he was writing with Hinata about the Wei's ancestors. He pulled up to the dirt road and parked it at the front. He was tired from the drive and ready for a long bath. Upon opening the door, he was welcomed by a trail of tiny cinnamon candies in the shape of hearts. They were scattered about and eventually he found the path where it was leading toward. The trail continued down the foyer and then up the stairs. He traveled along the red sweets into the bedroom and on the bed where she was lying down.

He wondered if she had waited long or if he had forgotten an anniversary. He leaned down and kissed softly on her exposed toes. He heard her giggled softly which answered whether or not she was awake. He had his fingers walk along her silhouette form lying on her side until he reached her mid-lateral section. She giggled again and he kissed her exposed shoulders. She was dressed in a white loose sun dress accordion style and fitted at the round neckline. He laid down beside her and asked, "Why don't you play the demon fox and I'll play the diviner?"

She didn't answer him and he tried a different approach, "If it's a special occasion, then why aren't ya wearing the French maid outfit with the cat ears and leather criss cross leggings?"

She was still not giving in to his teases that by now she would normally be all red and hiding in the bathroom.

He gently wrapped his arms around her and said calmly, "I love."

Before he could reassure her, she had already turned around to face him. She placed a hand on his cheek and said softly, "I'm pregnant."

He smiled and sighed a great relief from her words. He cradles her in his arms closer toward him and places little kisses on her forehead. He said reassuringly, "Whatever you had planned, I like this announcement so far. Just relax and let me take care of you tonight." Sasuke finally looked up and saw the crocked congratulations banner half hung and realized that she was probably not feeling well. From all the excitement to surprise him, she was probably mad at herself for failing in her attempt to beat his surprised birthday party for her last season. He was grateful for her attempt but at this moment he was just happy knowing that he was taking on a new role as father and that she was still his.

**The End**


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